Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kuina was in Shibuya one moment and…in some place she couldn’t confidently say was Shibuya the next. Sure, it looked like it in some aspects, but there was one major discrepancy. The people. There were none. Not a person in sight even though she wandered around aimlessly all day trying to figure out what had gone wrong. Perhaps she was just asleep at work again and sleeping so good that she was having one of the strangest dreams of all time that would lead to her undoubtedly being fired. She wanted to find someone, but as time passed and the sun set, she became less and less comfortable with the idea of meeting someone in this…weird place.

She went to the hospital when she couldn't find anyone and still found no one. Not even her mother. The bed she’d been dutifully confined to sat empty with an indent where she would be. It made her stomach feel hollow and achy. She’d tried her phone a while ago to find it dead with no hope of resurrection even though she knew it had been on full charge not long ago. It made no sense. After a while, she opted to go home. She had her keys in her jacket pocket after all. So she walked, because she discovered that none of the electricity worked, up seven flights of stairs to her apartment. It was empty, but it was supposed to be. There was, however, a smell. Her nose crinkled and she walked to her fridge to find that everything she’d bought was expired beyond belief. She’d bought this stuff yesterday. So she distracted herself from how little sense everything made by throwing it all out and opening her balcony doors. She could just open all the doors and windows, but force of habit kept her wary of allowing someone to break in. She stood on the balcony and pondered what to do or where to go or how she could successfully wake herself up from this odd dream. 

She was snatched out of her daze by a building’s lights coming on several blocks away. So there was still electricity. She looked around her apartment, locking up and leaving her useless phone behind, only taking her keys with her, tucked back into her jacket pocket. She started off towards the lights. Even on the way there, she encountered no one. Perhaps she really was all alone in this world if not even this could draw people in. Kuina reached a clothing store, it was far too expensive for her and too plain to be her taste anyway. Still, she entered, hearing a soft chime from somewhere when she walked through the threshold. She turned to look at the doorway, taking a step back towards it before a voice called out. “I wouldn’t do that! Just come this way.” Kuina turned to see that the warning had been administered by a teenage boy, still in his school uniform. She walked over to the boy and he nodded to a table where phones were perfectly laid out. She stared at them for a moment, but the boy wordlessly encouraged her to take one. As soon as she did, it turned on. 

‘Facial Recognition Commencing. Hold Still Please…’

“What the hell… Hey kid, what is all this? Where is everyone?” 

The boy blinked at Kuina and tilted his head, putting his hands in his pockets and rocking back and forth on his heels. He seemed nervous to talk to her at all. “You just got here huh? We just have to play the game okay? Just play the game and it’ll be fine. Follow the rules and…yeah. Don’t stress too much.”

“Game? This makes no sense. I-”

“I’m gonna sit over there and wait for other players. Please let me rest. Thank you.” He seemed far too sullen for a teenage boy. But then again, he also clearly knew things she didn’t. She looked at the rest of the store, but it seemed they were just in the waiting area as the other two large doors that would lead to the rest of the store were closed. What were they hiding? She didn’t have a deep interest in finding out yet. The boy’s ominous explanation made her itch with anxiety. Other players? She looked back at the table and counted out six more phones. Other players. She leaned against the wall, away from the boy at his request and waited for more people to show up. Sure enough, people funneled in gradually. A middle aged woman, a man dressed in a full suit, a young man and woman who seemed to be a couple, a middle school girl, and a man with blond hair. When the blond man picked up the last phone, a cheerful, feminine robotic voice chimed from their phones all at once. “Registration Closed! Game: Maze. Difficulty: Eight of Diamonds. Rule: Navigate the maze successfully within the designated time. The maze walls cannot be touched and once entered, the maze cannot be exited anywhere other than through the exit. Clear Condition: Reach the end of the maze and exit the building before time runs out. Game Start!”

Kuina looked around at the other players and none seemed nearly as confused as she did. In fact, they all seemed far more frightened than her. The middle age woman sighed and walked to the doors, shoving them open while everyone hesitated. Kuina looked at the phone to see it had an hour and a half timer on the screen. Counting down. The store had been completely rearranged somehow into walls made from what seemed to be changing rooms to form a maze. If that didn’t look confusing enough, the entire place seemed to be littered with dense clothing racks, mannequins, display cases, and the like which made everything look more cluttered. There were several different starting paths it seemed and the middle aged woman took the middle one without looking back. After she’d gone, everyone seemed to wait a second or two before starting off on separate paths. Kuina was the only one left, but stumbled forward when she recalled the boy’s advice. “Just play the game he said. Fine. It seems easy enough.” She entered the maze, unable to see over the walls, trying not to get distracted by the clothes. She wondered how much people who worked in stores like this got paid. It seemed pretty straightforward until she started getting worried about the natural problem with mazes. Getting lost. She looked over her shoulder, forgetting the rules for a moment and contemplating going back. When she looked though, the path she’d walked down mere seconds ago was blocked off. She looked back ahead of her at a fork in her path and saw it. The walls slowly shifting to change the paths. She rushed ahead and picked a direction without thinking before the pathway closed.

“...Not easy enough.” 

She felt like she was getting nowhere and now knowing that the walls of the maze were moving, she didn’t see how it was possible to know where she had and hadn’t been. The walls were short enough to climb, but she recalled the rules. No touching. She stood still for a second, pointlessly trying to orient herself and think when she saw a quick, precise flash of red light come from seemingly nowhere and heard the screech of a girl a few seconds later. She didn’t know why, but she had the feeling someone had touched a wall. She stood as the walls began to close in on her, slipping through a sliver of a gap between the walls at the last second. Now in a larger area, she could catch her breath. She looked around at the mannequins, racks and display cases, flinching when another flash of red light went off. “No touching.” She reached for a mannequin with hands on its hips, feeling that it was far sturdier than the flimsy things at the store she worked at. She tilted her head and picked it up. Heavier than the ones at her store too. She pulled the phone out of her pocket to find that she had forty minutes left. She’d wasted an hour wandering around this thing like an idiot. Another flash of light. If she kept going like this, she’d be lost forever. So she stepped onto a glass display case filled with jewelry and picked up the mannequin.

She could see it. The entire maze, shifting and moving gradually. It was disorienting. Then, just for a second, when another wall moved, she saw it. A bright green exit sign at the back of the walls and clutter. She also saw just what the red light was. A laser appeared from seemingly nowhere right down into the head of the middle school girl. She collapsed with a hole in her head and Kuina gasped, looking around the maze, remembering that the walls were moving. So she jumped, holding the mannequin, no easy task, onto a tiny display table, the rules never said she couldn’t ditch the whole maze thing altogether. 

So she jumped from platform to platform, keeping an eye on the exit all the while. She used the mannequin to jam in between two rapidly colliding walls so she could pass and grabbed another mannequin. It was certainly faster, but the maze was still of epic proportions. By the time she neared the exit, she had fifteen minutes. At the end, she knew the exit was on the other side but she had no way to reach it. The section she’d landed in was barren and empty, all she had was the unbearably heavy mannequin. Then she had an idea. “Hello! Is someone on the other side?” Silence. “If there’s someone on the other side by the exit please say something!”

“I’m here.”

She didn’t know who it was, the only person she’d heard speak was the schoolboy, but she nodded. She tapped the wall gently with the mannequin. “Can you hear that?”

“Yes.”

“Move away from the wall.”

After a few seconds of no response, she wielded the heavy figure with all her strength and began bashing the wall with it. Again, the rules never said she couldn't use something else to touch the walls. The wall gave easily and fell, being made of dressing room walls after all, and when it fell, the blond man was the one standing on the other side. She dropped the mannequin with a thud and walked on it, balancing carefully to avoid stepping on the fallen wall. No need to chance it. He raised an eyebrow at her and looked her up and down, hands in the pockets of his black sweatpants. Kuina panted and looked at the exit, it seemed normal. So why hadn’t the man left? He looked down at his own phone and flashed it to her. “You’ve got four minutes. You made good time.”

“Why are you still here? How long have you been here?”

The man shrugged, brushing off his long sleeved grey shirt. He was very plain. Aside from the hair. “When the game had about forty five minutes left or so, I made it here.” He got here while she was still stumbling around in the dark. She wondered how. Clearly not the same way as her considering how confused he looked by her unconventional methods. “What are you still doing here?” He looked at the phone again and the shifting walls, creating opening and closing them as fast as they’d been made for the exit. “Not long now. Hm.” He turned away and began to approach Kuina who stood right by the door. Just as he was about to open it, they both turned at the sound of footsteps. It was the boy. The one from earlier. He nodded at her and she nodded back. “See? Just play the game.” The blond man smirked at his comment and pushed open the door. The second they all exited, their phones chimed with a happy little jingle. “Congratulations! Game Cleared.” 

Kuina stared down at the phone in shock and the teenage boy dropped his to the ground before walking off into the night. The blond man began the leave too, pocketing his phone, but Kuina stammered to him. “What is this place?” He looked like he wouldn't stop, but then he paused, lowering his head. “I don’t know. You just need to play the games. Or you’ll die.”

“Looks like that happens if I do play.”

“True. But if you don't, your visa will run out. The card number? That’s the number of days you don’t need to worry about playing. So you’re fine for eight.” He started walking again, but then she jogged over to him, catching up with ease. “Why’d you wait so long to leave? If the games kill you.”

“I wanted to learn more. About the way the games work. Figured I’d watch.” He continued to walk, even as she followed. Then she stopped. She didn’t know if she really understood his answer. Nor why he was so cryptic. “So did you learn anything?” The man didn’t stop, but he hummed as if her question intrigued him. He thought for a moment and chuckled. “Maybe I’ll see you in another game.” Then he was gone from her sight. She frowned as she watched him go, arms crossed over her chest. "He's odd." 

Suddenly the lights from the building behind her shut off, leaving her in the dark. So she zipped up her white jacket fully and turned, darting off in the direction of her apartment. She'd just have to…play the games.

Chapter Text

Chishiya had to hand it to the diamonds games. They made him think. He was a bit confused at first. It took him several minutes to even notice the walls moving. Their movement became faster and easier to detect as time counted down. Upping the difficulty undoubtedly. He, however, noted that the walls were shifting in a pattern. It wasn't random. Thus, he was able to deduce when to move and how each correct path had the same brand of clothing within it, and made it to the exit. Alone. The game was rather difficult. An eight after all. Maybe he'd be the only one. It took him a while to notice the shifting pattern and even then he still made a few mistakes finding the clue that signalled the correct direction.

Then he heard her.

He stayed silent at first, having no interest in helping someone else. However, the woman didn't exactly sound like a damsel in distress when she called out to him. 

He soon saw why.

In a diamonds game, she'd beaten it like a spades game. Well…perhaps that made her clever in her own way too though. No one had thought to just remove the walls as obstacles by using other things to touch them. It was entertaining, if anything. 

Chishiya had been here for just about two weeks now. He was understanding things. He played as often as he felt he was able, trying to gain some sort of knowledge of this place. Disappointingly, he'd only managed to figure out the nature of the games, their consequences, and the concepts of visas. The how and the why of everyone's presence here was still a mystery. As was how to escape this place fully. 

Technically, Chishiya didn't need to play any more games for a few weeks. Still, he didn't see how waiting around would help him learn anything. So he played. Besides, the games were…exhilarating in a sense. He didn't know how long he'd last in these games, sometimes it felt like it was just luck, but he'd keep playing anyway. He had no one to be around during the day and instead, camped out in a pharmacy, figuring no one would bother him, which he'd been right about so far. He drew up his theories, tried to get electronics to work, gathered supplies, and attempted to sleep. Several times. He didn't sleep much before all this either. Each night, after a game, he'd listen to a symphony of lasers accompanied by flashes of red light. As long as he kept playing, that wouldn't be him. He was confident in his abilities. Each night, he curled up beneath a desk in the pharmacy that he'd set up and slept. It wasn't exactly dignified looking but it was comfortable and safe. He'd seen other players, and with him not being the most…physically adept, he'd preferred to stay hidden and avoid people outside of the games.

It took a few days before he saw that woman again. The one with the white jacket and…interesting hair. He was one to talk. A part of him wondered if she'd died after all, making his impressions of her wrong. Then, there she was in a game venue placed in what used to be a large daycare. Colorful walls, toys, and a large reception desk. She was standing alone while a group of four other players huddled together, talking. Four grown men in casual clothes, talking secretly and paying Chishiya no mind as he entered. They were clearly friends. Or at least well acquainted. She smiled for just a split second upon seeing him. He acknowledged her by locking eyes with her and nothing else. No smile or wave. Chishiya sauntered over to the table, taking the remaining phone and hearing the familiar robotic voice.

"Registration Closed! Game: Peas in a Pod. Difficulty: Five of Clubs. Rule: Complete each task with your teammate. Separation from your teammate or completion without them will result in a Game Over. Once you have selected your teammate, equip the bracelet and start. Clear Condition: The first team to complete the tasks wins. Game Start!”

On the reception desk awaited three bracelets that looked like handcuffs, just with a bit more space between each cuff and a clear technological element, as most things here had. At the end of the day, they were handcuffs, no matter how many flashing lights were on them. The four men walked over to the desk immediately, breaking up into pairs and putting one bracelet on each partner's wrist. The devices beeped and clamped around their wrists and they set off, leaving Chishiya with the woman. He walked up to the desk, slapped the bracelet on, and held the other end out to her. "We have to hurry if we want to beat them." She hesitated for a moment before nodding and putting the bracelet on. Now, practically attached at the hip, Chishiya didn't wait for the woman and instead walked towards the door opposite of the one the men had selected. 

"I'm Kuina."

Chishiya looked around the room they'd entered and pondered the puzzle on the wall that was just a bunch of large shifting pieces. The next door was closed so he could only assume this was the task. This was only a five. "Come on." He dragged her to the wall, pushing and pulling the loud wooden pieces around the wall before realising he couldn't reach the top level of pieces. He looked over at Kuina without speaking and she grabbed each one, shifting the ones he wanted to the top row. "You could say please. Or your name. Or anything."

"I'm trying to focus on not dying."

"Yeah and I think we're at a disadvantage compared to those guys because they're all pals and I don't even know your name. We're clearly supposed to work as a team." As he slid the last piece into place, he heard the lock to the other door click and began to walk to it, then, with his hand on the handle, he sighed. "Chishiya. Have you played any other games?" They walked down the hallway and he tried not to be bothered by the bulletin boards with children's work on them, looking straight ahead. He figured if he had to talk to her, it could be a useful conversation and not small talk. She had a point. It was a clubs game. He needed her to win. Though he figured there was probably some loophole, there always was. He just knew he wasn't strong enough to drag her dead body to the finish and clear the game.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ◇ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･☆

Kuina tried to just focus on the game since her partner didn't seem to be talkative. She just hoped he was a team player at the very least. The puzzle game was clearly just a child's game made midly more difficult, but she did have to stifle her laugh when she had to help with the top row. They walked in mostly silence until he seemed to have processed what she said earlier and gave her his name. Chishiya. "I've played a few. I'm still not sure I know what this is all about. I've been trying to figure it out with the games but…"

"Each suit is a different style of game. Have you played all four yet?"

"Not hearts." 

Chishiya nodded, but his face didn't give away much else. He was almost infuriatingly neutral. At the end of the hall was another open door. They walked in and were met with a large rug with a pattern for hopscotch printed on it in fun, bright colors. On the left wall there was a poster on bubbly font and bold letters that read; 'One on the squares at a time! No pushing!' Kuina nodded at it, drawing Chishiya's attention. "Think that's a rule?" He squinted at it but only shrugged. "It's possible. Maybe only one of us can stand on each spot at a time."

"That's basically impossible after the first one though. We're too close." She lifted her left hand, dragging his right along with it with ease for emphasis. He scoffed and snatched his hand back to his side in annoyance. She looked back at him in annoyance and scoffed to match him. He looked at the rug, as did Kuina and she finally exclaimed. "How much do you weigh?"

"...No."

She hadn't even explained her idea, but the way his face contorted in disgust told her he knew what her plan was anyway. If only one could stand at a time then they'd do that. She crossed her arms and huffed. "Those other guys are probably way ahead of us. I know it's not the most manly, but neither is dying." She figured a friendly reminder of the nature of the game would be enough to convince him. The man grumbled and maneuvered awkwardly until he'd situated himself on Kuina's back. "If you drop me-"

"Then we both lose. I've got you, trust me. You're not too heavy. Just try not to strangle me." Now she just had to play hopscotch. With a grown man on her back. Easy. 

It was not easy. Certainly not for her knees. The extra weight added to each impact as she jumped, especially on one foot, was felt every time. Still, she gritted her teeth and pretended to be fine and Chishiya, thankfully, said nothing. The agony that was a children's game ended with her pushing her way through the next door into another, smaller room, panting. "Can I get down now?" Kuina crouched and let the man struggle to get off of her back, lacking just as much grace as when he'd gotten on. 

They didn't speak of it. 

On they walked, this time for what felt like forever and Kuina began to worry that they were too slow. Then again, she supposed she'd know when a giant laser shot through her skull. She gasped when her wrist was yanked and she was pulled around a corner by Chishiya. "What th-" He brought a finger to his lips and pointed around the corner. She peeked and saw two of the men making their way into another room. "Come on." They followed closely behind, careful to be quiet. The room was a music room. Filled with all sorts of instruments. Namely a piano. Which seemed to be the puzzle. Kuina was busy watching the men until Chishiya called her attention to something else. The door at the back of the room. It had a painting of a rainbow and children holding hands with an adult on it. At the top, it read; 'See you tomorrow!' Her eyes widened at the realisation. "The exit." He nodded. "They're gonna beat us." To this, her partner seemed far less agreeable. They remained crouched along the floor, hiding behind an assortment of drums to make their way behind the men, focusing on reading the music left on the piano and methodically playing the keys. She could feel her heart racing as they crept closer and closer behind them. She didn't understand what the plan was and it was too late to ask now. As they were right up on the men's ankles, Chishiya waited for one to prepare to press a key and then stabbed him with a…pen? Right in the calf. The sound of discordant piano keys being played followed immediately, alongside a scream. The men looked down to see the two of them crouched on the floor like children. Chishiya looked up, smugly and Kuina stared wide eyed. Not even a second later, a laser shot through the head of the stabbed man. But the other lived.

"Chishiya get back!" She pulled them both backward before the body could fall on them and before their upset opponent could attempt to squash them like ants. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ♧   ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

They left covered in blood.

Correction.

Chishiya left covered in blood. Kuina was mostly clean. Her pants had gotten dirty, but by some indescribable stroke of luck, her white jacket was clean. They walked through the door just in time to see the other pair enter the room. Also just in time to see them die. Kuina turned her head away suddenly at the sight. Chishiya just stared, uninterested. "Congratulations! Game Cleared." Their bracelets unlocked automatically, slipping from their wrists and clattering on the floor. Chishiya pulled a card off of the back of the door and tucked it in his pocket, starting off. "Wait. Wait!"

Chishiya did not wait.

"Can you tell me about the games?"

"You'll figure it out. I did."

"You did not figure it out all on your own." She was right. He hadn't. He certainly could've, but it expedited the process with a person or two explaining his first few games. He wasn't a social person. Even still, the woman was persistent. Following him as he left the game arena. He figured she decided to attach to him because she'd seen him more than once. "If I tell you, will you leave me alone?"

"Probably not." He was a bit stunned by her honesty. She was an honest person which was stunning in general, but especially here. Although, she said she hadn't played hearts yet. Perhaps her honest nature would change soon. He grumbled under his breath and kept walking before breaking down and deciding to explain what he knew. He hadn't gotten the chance to explain his theories to anyone. It was actually a bit helpful for him to sort it all out verbally to someone who could provide feedback. It was like a peer review. Also, he wasn't too worried about her hurting him or taking his stuff. She didn't exactly look worse for wear. She was clearly set up somewhere. 

It couldn't hurt.

Chapter Text

Kuina stayed with Chishiya.

Or

Chishiya stayed with Kuina.

Either way, after the clubs game they remained together. She sort of just insisted on not leaving him alone until he gave up and let her stay. She didn't like being alone. Not in the regular world and certainly not in this hellscape. She wasn't afraid of him and that couldn't be said for some of the other players she'd encountered. She found his pharmacy setup clever but also a bit pitiful. Sleeping under a desk wasn't exactly her idea of a good time. But she stayed there with him for a few days, they played games separately and met back up with each other at the pharmacy. She didn't know him all too well so she figured it wasn't exactly proper form to insult his hideout and then invite him to her place instead. 

He was an odd man but she had the feeling he was always sort of strange. Even before. She tried to learn more about him but he wasn't particularly talkative. They played games separately and came back together and talked a bit and that was it. Either way…Kuina found she was glad to not have to be alone anymore. 

"So how's your theory going?"

Chishiya shrugged, "I'm at about the same place, but I've found people that have been here longer than me. Even they don't seem to know more. Trying not to die isn't really conducive to higher thought." They sat on the pharmacy floor together, eating instant noodles and talking about their night. It was the standard now. "Do you think we'll just be stuck here forever?"

"...I don't know Kuina."

"Oh, it must physically hurt to have to say those words huh? You always seem to know everything." She pointed at him in playful accusation and he rolled his eyes, continuing to eat. He also was and wasn't very expressive. She could tell they got along though because as much as he pretended that she forced her way in, which she did partially do, he was also clever enough to ditch her if he wanted. And yet, he hadn't. It was just better. Better to have someone in all this. At least for a while. However, with every day that passed, Kuina became more and more confident in Chishiya. He came back every night. Alive and well…enough. She could see he was starting to have more confidence in her too. They both refused to die it seemed.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ♡ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

They'd been together for weeks and Chishiya found he still knew a whole lot of nothing. He'd gotten there before her and now even she had been there for over a month. There had to be people hiding the greater workings from them. He found that the games seemed to be undecided until entry. How else would some of them be so entertaining? Like hearts. Hearts which Kuina had still yet to play. He asked her to tell him every night what she'd played so he could keep track of the games and their nature to expand his knowledge. If it was totally randomised, the likelihood of the woman having gone without playing an entire suit for so long just got progressively lower and yet…she still hadn't played.

"Where have you been?" As soon as he got back from playing, he went back to his other work. Building and theorising and waiting for Kuina. Sometimes she was back before him. Sometimes she wasn't. They'd eat together, review everything, then go to sleep. Plain and repetitive, but he'd learned a bit about her from such a plain routine.

"Playing games. Same as you."

"Wha-" Chishiya turned from his project to look at Kuina. She sounded slow moving and in pain. He knew what a person in pain sounded like. That was his job. Kuina looked awful. She stood in the doorway, bruising forming on her neck, cuts on her arms, bleeding onto the floor ever so slightly. "What happened to you? Shit. You're bleeding everywhere. It'll be filthy." He stood, picking up a clean shirt he'd been saving for later, cutting it up, and wrapping it around her arms to stop the bleeding so he could think of how he wanted to fix it. "What happened to you Kuina?" She gritted her teeth and stayed generally still while he tried to stop the bleeding. "The nine of spades happened. T-The people playing were huge assholes. What did you play?" She held out the card to him, which he snatched up in annoyance.

"Six hearts. That doesn't matter. Look, where were you staying before this? You need to sleep in a real bed." She looked down at him while he used the shirt to wrap her arms and didn't stop watching him. She smiled at him and raised an eyebrow. "Aw. You do care."

"Come on. Where's your stuff? I'll pack up everything." He couldn't figure out why, but he had to put in extra effort to keep his hands from shaking. Keep his voice steady, keep his face neutral. It startled him a bit, sure, but he was also just bothered that she was bleeding everywhere. 

The walk was fine enough until the stairs. The place was cheap. Probably why it was still empty even in the apocalypse. Who wants to keep living shittily when you can live anywhere? He helped her up the stairs, tirelessly having to argue that she shouldn't walk faster even if she could because it would increase her heart rate, which would increase her blood flow, which would increase her bleeding. When they reached the top floor, she unlocked a specific door with a key. They entered a shoebox sized apartment that was perfectly clean and brightly and girlishly decorated. He closed the door behind them and looked around. "Where's your bed?"

"Whoa. …Although I suppose we have had dinner together already. More than once."

"Kuina. You're still bleeding. Where's your bed?" Kuina stumbled to a cabinet and crouched down to pull open the doors at the very bottom. "Mat's in here. I-"

"I'll do it.” He took it from her, set it up quickly, and put her on it, opening his pack full of supplies and starting his work. "Your apartment is shit."

"Why thank you. You have lovely bedside manner." He didn't look up at her and instead continued to focus on a particularly deep gash that needed stitching.  He didn't really care too much what happened to her, but he'd also gotten used to her presence. He understood what it was like to feel lonely when she was gone. It was very out of character for him. He was a lonely child. He'd conquered the feeling of loneliness years ago. Or so he thought. "Don't play anything tomorrow. You need to rest and I know you have over a week on your visa."

"So do you."

He was wrapping up all the trash to dispose of later. "I do. So what?" 

"So you don't need to play either. Keep me company. I get lonely. You're not the best company in the world but you're not the worst." He stood and looked down at her laying there, not particularly trying to rest. Just laying still because he told her to. "Fine. I need to make sure you don't pull your stitches anyway." 

Chishiya laid beside Kuina in the middle of the night and watched her sleep. Which was odd. Which he knew. Even though he acted like…himself, he was very self aware. He just…it was the doctor in him probably. That was all. He could see her breathing, every micro expression her resting face made, every twitch in her body. It made him feel calm. He didn't have any machines to attach to her so the steady beeps could calm him. So he became the machine. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ♤ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Kuina woke up and had almost forgotten she'd gone home. She woke up holding onto something and as she groaned and squeezed her eyelids together, she felt a shirt in one hand and hair in the other. Well, hair was being nice about it. It was dry and crunchy hair and she was unsurprised to look down and see the usual rat's nest of dry bleached hair that belonged to Chishiya resting against her chest in the morning. They'd ended up cuddling and if she had a working phone or her camera nearby she'd take a photo. Excellent quality blackmail considering he often acted like he didn't need anyone and was perfectly fine alone. She spread her arms out to the sides and yawned, looking at the fully risen sun outside. The fact that he was asleep at all was actually a miracle. She wouldn't wake him just to make fun of him. He usually slept a couple of hours regularly to her knowledge and not much longer. She couldn't figure out if it was because of something he saw in the games or if he was an insomniac before all this.

He began to stir, turning his head to be pressed flat against her chest and he groaned, also a new sight for Kuina. Usually, he woke up instantly. A bit groggy for sure, but he'd sit up immediately and just stand in silence for a while until he fully woke up. Now he gripped the blankets and grumbled and yawned. Perhaps he was a person after all. She'd only seen him in two games, but he had a generally cold personality with an ongoing sarcastic streak. She knew when he let her stay that he was human. People get lonely. Even when they claim they don't. "Good morning sleeping beauty. I didn't even have to kiss you to wake you up. Thank God. No offense." He rolled onto his back away from her and sighed. "None taken. …Sorry about that."

"No worries. You can't help if you're a cuddler. I mean you didn't seem like one but-"

"I'm not. What do you want to eat?" He sat up and then stood, walking over to their bags to pull something from them. "And how are your arms?" Kuina laughed at the way he brushed it off and hummed. "They hurt but not as bad as yesterday. Just make me tea and I'll eat cookies or something. We can save some of the food since we're not playing. We don't need the energy." 

Chishiya turned out to be one of the most ideal doing nothing partners a person doing nothing could ask for. He sat on the floor while she sat on her tiny couch, and he worked on something made out of random parts. His favorite pastime. He claimed to her through focused mumbling that it would be a taser. She made bracelets out of string. It kept her mind and hands busy. She remembered learning how to make them from the girls in middle school. They all said she made them the best and wanted one from her. The boys used to be jealous of her because of it. They didn't know that she didn't care for girls' attention. Not like that anyway. 

"Chishiya."

"What?"

"What did you do before this?"

"Doctor."

"What?" Kuina couldn't really hear him. His nose was almost pressed to the table as he squinted at his work, trying to maintain his sharp focus. "I was a doctor. You?"

"I worked at a clothing store. Hence the shitty apartment. As you called it."

"This is actually your apartment?"

"Yep. Figured something should feel normal in all this. So I went home."

"Mmm. Makes sense. You're too smart to work at a clothing store."

"We can't all be doctors." Her parents probably would've liked it if she was. She slid from the couch and sat beside Chishiya. "Get back on the couch."

"Arm out."

The man did so obediently, still consumed by his work. He didn't even seem to have a mild concern about what she could be doing. They could've killed each other a long time ago anyway if they really wanted to. She held her breath to be as still as she could manage while she tied the bracelet she'd finished around his wrist. It was a chain of little pink and purple flowers. She tied it tight enough that it couldn't be removed just in case he didn't like it. "Ta da!"

He sighed and paused his work, looking over at his wrist, face wrinkling up in confusion. "Purple and pink?" Kuina groaned and pushed the side of his head as she stood. "I didn't have time to go to the craft store for new colors. You get pink and purple."

"Well what color is yours?"

"Hm?"

"I saw you making two. I assume these are some sort of friendship bracelets. What color is yours?"

"Pink and white! Isn't it cute? I used the same pink for both of ours since it was the string I had the most of." She admired her own bracelet as she talked, not even paying attention to Chishiya as she did so. Then, she heard the sound of the man mumbling to himself and tapping his fingers on the table. She looked back to see him fidgeting with the bracelet, trying to get it off. "What are you doing?"

"Where did you learn to tie knots like this? I can't get it off." She reached to push the side of his head again, only to have her wrist grabbed and pushed away. "Fuck off. You can't take it off because I tied it like that on purpose." Chishiya squinted at her suspiciously as he released her wrist to examine the bracelet again.

"Fuck's sake…were you in the navy or something?"

"I'm glad you like it."

Chapter Text

He learned she didn't like to be still.

During their time resting, Chishiya learned several new things about his companion. He learned that she was really good at making bracelets out of string, that she liked to take photos on old cameras, that she'd lived alone for years much like him, that she snored a little bit when she slept, and that she really didn't like to be still.

He watched her from the kitchen, peeking under her bandages and humming impatiently while he cooked. Cooked was generous. It was just dried, processed nonsense anyway. "Stop touching it. You're worse than a kid."

"Did you have kids Chishiya?"

"Of course not. Leave your bandages alone."

He treated all of his patients the way he would've imagined he'd treat his kids. He never had plans to have any, but her question threw him off. He cleared his throat and looked out of the window instead of at her. "Why the hell do you always ask me the weirdest questions about my life before?"

"Asking if you have kids is normal! You can ask me whatever you want, you just don't."

"The things I know about you now are more important." Kuina stood and walked over to him even though she'd been told to stay seated a few moments prior. "I think we should play." 

"You've got like a week. Probably more than that."

"We're not learning anything here and I am getting restless. Actually, I was restless two days ago. I'm fine and I know you wanna go play too."

She was right. He did. He just knew that if he went there would be nothing stopping her from going. And possibly getting killed. Not that he cared. Not that much anyway. Not at all. If she died he'd just…keep playing. Per usual. That was the point. She didn't change anything even though she appealed to the generic, less intelligent part of his human brain that needed to have company. "Fine, then we'll go together. It'll be easy with the two of us."

"Chishiya." She began to whine. They'd decided as soon as they started staying together that they wouldn't play together. The risk of having to kill each other in a game was high but playing death games together was also a pretty fast way to expedite attachment. Which Chishiya had wanted to avoid. Unsuccessfully, considering this time together expedited attachment. 

"Together. Get your stuff. I have to make sure you don't ruin my stitching. You can't appreciate it, but it's beautiful." Then he grumbled and handed her food off before walking off to the bathroom, staring himself down in the mirror and trying to regain his composure. "...Let's play."

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ◇ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･☆

Kuina wasn't glad to be playing particularly. It was more like all the playing she'd done conditioned her into having anxiety when she wasn't playing. It was less like she wanted to play and more like she needed to. They walked side by side, Kuina walking slower than she typically would so Chishiya could keep up with her. They looked up at the entrance to a theme park. Kuina looked over at Chishiya and smirked. "Sucks it's not Disney." 

"Come on. You know the plan."

"Of course!" 

As soon as they walked in, they acted like they didn't know each other. It was for the best in case it was something like hearts. Their fellow players could use their comradeship against them. Or they could use it against the other players if they didn't see it coming. Chishiya took a phone and sat on the floor by the ticket counter, trying to charge his taser that really just looked like a pile of scraps to her. He'd yet to test it. She crossed her arms over her chest and avoided talking to the other players, waiting for it to start instead. She was grateful for her jacket, covering her cuts and thus, her weakness. The arena seemed to be quite full with ten total participants by the time registration closed. "Registration Closed! Game: Keep Away. Difficulty: Four of Spades. Rule: Guard your assigned object until time runs out. Objects cannot be moved until necessary. Losing objects or unnecessarily moving them will result in a Game Over. Clear Condition: Keep your assigned object until time runs out. Game Start!”

She looked at Chishiya across from and he grinned, winking at her before glancing at his phone, gathering his things, and strolling off. She checked the phone to find a mere half hour on the clock as well as a notification for a GPS trip that had been started. She followed the walking directions through the park, eyeing the abandoned games and rides. The lights were almost disorienting, but she tried to focus on the directions on the phone. "Destination Reached. Trip Over. How was the navigation?" Kuina rolled her eyes, closing the app and seeing that she was standing in front of some water themed ride. There was a big pool of water beneath the rails of the ride and undoubtedly further along. She didn't see anything special. "Object…" She stood on the boarding platform, not surprised that she was tall enough to ride, and saw, in the seat of the little car, a water gun. Just a toy, bright blue with flashing lights on it. She picked it up and rotated, seeing a label on the other side that read; 'Item! :)'. Throwing the gun back into the seat, she huffed in frustration, hating how childish and gamelike a lot of the games were. As if their lives weren't on the line. Then she picked it back up and put it on the floor of the car in an attempt to make it less obvious.

"Guard it. From what?" She sat across from the ride in a game booth since there was a chair and since she had a few ideas of what guarding the object could mean. She'd played a few spades games by now. They were about strength, agility, things like that. She figured there'd be something or even someone trying to take it. For either one, she could take them by surprise if she sat back in the shadows. Then, surely enough, she saw a figure stride up to the ride, looking down at their phone. She watched intently and noted they seemed a bit lost. So she slithered from her spot, checking the time on her phone. Only twenty minutes left. Easy. "Where is the damn thing? Is it the fucking ride? Fucking games…"

All she had to do was get close enough to-

"Hey! You find that thing yet?"

Kuina jumped, ducking behind a bush when she heard another voice. Another man approached, stretching his arms above his head. "I'm looking. Shouldn't you be guarding yours?"

"Eh. I'm not too worried about it. Readjusted the original hiding spot a bit, no one's finding that thing. It's here?"

"The GPS fucking sucks. Took forever and I'm just at this stupid water ride." Then the men proceeded to look together. 

And found it within a few minutes.

"Just take it back to wherever it says and you clear and we can get back t-"

Well, Kuina couldn't let that happen. So she sprung from her hiding spot, immediately going for the player with the item. The other one could wait. She snatched it back quickly since neither of them had been expecting it and fell back before she could step back. She'd been hit by something. Hard.

Her side ached and she scrambled to her feet, still holding the toy gun in her hand as tightly as possible. She turned to be greeted by two men, one in a hoodie with the hood all the way up, the one after her item. "Hand it over and we won't knock the shit outta you. The laser would be better. Niragi, help me so we can get outta here." The other man, Niragi, had a half up half down hairstyle and a shirt Kuina honestly found ugly, hands in his pockets. He looked her up and down as she backed away and hummed, taking his hands out of his pockets. "Sure. Only because she's hot." Kuina sighed, finally ready to play another game.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ♧   ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･☆

Chishiya was bored.

He'd put his item, a little stuffed bear, into his pocket and sat by the game booth, able to simply duck and hide when he saw the player searching for the same item. He ducked behind the stand and slipped past in circles, frustrating the other player. He didn't feel like engaging. It was usually dangerous for him anyway. He was able to sneak away while the other player was left chasing their own tail. He chuckled as he snuck off, wondering if he could find Kuina before the game ended. They had fifteen minutes left. Maybe it would end beforehand. He could wander around and find out. He complained to himself as he crept past the water section of the park. He hated water rides. In fact, he was going to go right past them until he heard a grunt mixed with a stifled scream. "She's a tough bitch. Just give it here."

Chishiya was careful about his approach and saw the exact moment when Kuina threw something small with flashing blue lights on it into the pool of standing water at the start of a ride. She wriggled and grumbled as a man in a button down shirt pulled at her hair and tried to push her onto her back. Another man in a hoodie scrambled for the item. Whatever it was. She was engaged in an active fight with the man, better than any fight he could've put up, punching him square in the jaw and being rewarded with a punch to the gut. She was pressed into the concrete, turning her head and flailing aimlessly until she locked eyes with Chishiya, hiding. "I'll kill you both. Your friend's not winning this." Kuina growled through gritted teeth.

"We're more like coworkers. Besides, who's gonna stop him? You? Hold still." Chishiya could take the hint. He needed to deal with the other guy first and foremost. If the object was gone it was gone and she'd lose. It was easy to sneak up behind an idiot splashing around in the water. It was an easy takedown. He picked up a potted plant since he didn't love the idea of getting his taser wet, and with a minor struggle, hit the man in the head with it, knocking him unconscious in the water. He'd probably drown. Not his problem. That got Kuina's other assailant to notice him though and he stood, shoving Kuina aside and lunging for Chishiya, shoving them both into the water. "Catch!"

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ♡ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Kuina heard the word catch and so prepared to catch. She felt her hands instantly wrap around the pile of scrap metal her friend had been fine tuning. She rushed over to the men struggling and splashing in the water and shook her head, jabbing the device into the stranger's side. He convulsed and fell into the water. Chishiya resurfaced, coughing and wheezing, holding out the toy gun. "Here. …Fuck he almost drowned me. Shit." He crawled out of the ride and stood, hands on his knees. She looked down at him and felt relief wash over her. "You're okay. Damnit you're a shit fighter!"

"I know. That's why this exists." He snatched his taser back, but Kuina took it back immediately. "You shouldn't have it anyway, you're soaked a-"

"Congratulations! Game Cleared."

They looked down at the man they'd tased. He'd cleared the game. Kuina sighed in disappointment and walked off, helping Chishiya catch his breath. 

As they walked through the night, she could see him shivering. She took off her jacket and held it out to him. "Come on, you look pitiful. Don't freeze to death after the game." He begrudgingly took the white jacket, zipped it up, and put up the hood. He glanced at Kuina from the corner of his eyes and muttered to her. "Your pants." She looked down to find them undone, hastily fixing them before they started up the stairs to her apartment. "Thanks." She probably would've won even if she was alone. She could've managed it. Could she have managed it before that creep…

She sat on the couch, picking at her bandages again and Chishiya didn't stop her. He sat down beside her, leaning his head onto the arm of the little sofa, closing his eyes. "I hate spades. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Did that guy-"

"Nope. All good."

"Okay." 

The exchange was a quick back and forth, matter of fact and hesitation free. She pulled at her bandages incessantly and he grumbled, pulling the hood further onto his head. "Stop messing with them. I'll change them tomorrow." So she stopped.

The rest of the night was quiet and efficient and she couldn't figure exactly why. She supposed they were just tired. The game could've gone better and it was her fault it hadn't. To be fair. Still, most games went kind of shittily from her experience. Maybe Chishiya's didn't and she'd fucked up his streak. They laid in bed and Kuina exhaled, back to him while he stared at the ceiling. He always started on his back and woke up beside her. She also always fell asleep first. She flopped onto her back, looking over at him, still wide awake. He didn't look back but he did hum, uninterested, to acknowledge he was listening. "Chishiya?"

"Mmm."

"You said the stuff about me now is more important than before. But I…I have to tell you…just in case you uh find out." The introduction seemed to catch his attention. He turned his head slowly, watching her completely now. Which made it more awkward and stressful for her. Her only solace was how his face always looked so bored. She could take him in a fight probably. In case this was a mistake. "I…I didn't…I'm…fuck this is harder than I thought."

"Kuina. What is it?" His voice sounded just as plain and calm as usual and it was actually so helpful. She inhaled and closed her eyes, not wanting to see the initial reaction to what she'd say. "I wasn't always a girl. Like when I was born. I haven't gotten all the surgery yet either. It's just…you could've found out today so…I…yeah."

"Kuina. That's fine. I'm just glad you didn't pull my stitches." She opened her eyes slowly and when their eyes met he looked…just as calm and plain as usual. He didn't care. At all, it seemed.

And she could breathe again. "You…are?"

"Yeah. I may be good at stitching but it's my least favorite thing to do. Get some rest." She nodded and closed her eyes, falling asleep with ease as the adrenaline began to siphon from her body. "Thanks." She only heard him mutter it as she was falling asleep.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ♤ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Chishiya didn't sleep right away. Just watched Kuina sleep.

This was exactly why he didn't want her to follow him around. He'd almost drowned in a game he would've cleared without almost drowning if he hadn't helped her. A game he would've cleared easily if he hadn't helped her. He laid on his side and watched intently, he always knew she was thoroughly asleep when she started snoring. It wasn't too loud or annoying and sometimes it was funny, at first he watched long enough to make sure she didn't have sleep apnea. She seemed fine. He envied how well she could sleep. He only ever got a few hours in every night. Less when he was alone.

He tried to go to sleep eventually, but he just kept thinking about how he'd behaved during the game. It was so…stupid. He was usually all logic. Not now. Not with her. He gritted his teeth and tried not to think about how much those people in that game pissed him off. Not that it showed on his face. He hoped he'd see that man again sometime. Maybe help him lose a game. He let his mind shift to other things instead. Like what Kuina had told him.

It came as a shock and yet it didn't. He didn't find himself faking his initial reaction in the slightest. Neutral in outward appearance and indifferent when he spoke.

He didn't care.

Well, he did care. He cared that she felt comfortable enough to tell him. Yet, if she never did, he wouldn't have cared either because he found that he didn't care about the information itself. He was simply glad. She was a statistical hazard since many transgender people ended up dying young. Not that he'd tell her that he was thinking of her statistically. He just meant it was good she was here. So he could meet her. Maybe that was a little selfish considering the circumstances they'd met under. 

He didn't perceive her any differently. It didn't upset him that she hid it either. He could've been closed minded and tried to hurt her or…well anything. He found her just as annoying, just as clever, and just as helpful. From the way she'd gone about telling him…he wondered how many people reacted negatively to her telling them. She never talked about her family. She liked talking about her life before. He wouldn't ask though because then he'd have to talk about his.

Waking up with a person was weird. And embarrassing. He hated that his unconscious body seemed to be insistent on cuddling up to Kuina like he was a child. He was a fully grown man. It was embarrassing. She didn't seem to mind in the slightest, but still.

It was so nice. He never admitted that though. Instead, he apologised every morning and slid away from her promptly. But it was nice to feel someone holding him instead of waking up alone. She'd run her fingers through his hair, pat his shoulder, and tell him to move. Every time. "Did you even sleep that long last night?"

"Sure. Yes."

"That's very unconvincing. Wanna lay back down?" He turned to see her laying on her back rather than her side and holding out her arms. "Absolutely not. I have to change your bandages."

"You almost drowned yesterday. You could sleep a little longer."

Chishiya considered it.

Heavily.

"I have to change your bandages."

Chapter Text

Kuina was feeling better and they were back to normal for the most part. Playing games away from each other, eating, sleeping. Except she found he talked more than he used to. Now, for Chishiya that still wasn't a lot. It was just that by comparison he seemed chatty. Not about anything monumental. He'd ask her if she was hungry or how she felt, but before he'd just put food in front of her or tell her she looked tired. It was a bit odd. Not in a bad way. Just odd.

"So you were a doctor. What kind?"

"Surgeon. Pediatric."

"So you like kids!"

"Yeah, didn't have any though. What is the point of this?" Chishiya sat on the floor in front of her while she mostly played in his hair. Braiding and unbraiding it because she was bored and finally convinced him to let her. "No point! Just be still." It was still early in the day and they had hours before game time. They usually just ended up doing relaxing things beforehand. Games were stressful enough, no need to go on a jog too. "This is stupid. So…did you have any other aspirations before? Besides a clothing store." Kuina shrugged and thought about it. "I guess. My mom wanted me to go back to school. I was going to. To make her happy."

"Are you close with her?"

"Yeah. I wasn't for a while because of…how I am, but we reconnected. I really missed her. She used to do this to me. Very relaxing stuff." She leaned down and smiled at him as he scoffed because she could tell it was relaxing. She wondered if she could get him to fall asleep. "That's nice that you have her."

"Are you close with your parents?"

"Not really. No." He rested his head on her thigh and sighed, "I sense this was purposeful on your part. …Wake me up if I don't wake myself up soon."

"Okay!" She wondered why he wasn't close with his parents. He was…the ideal child for most parents. A boy, successful, a doctor. Sure he was single, but he wasn't that old. Literally the perfect kid. She didn't ask why though since he didn't seem ready or willing to just offer up extra information. 

When Chishiya slept, it was very interesting. He was so unbelievably still for the most part. Impressively still really. His face was truly relaxed which let her know that bored, uninterested face he usually pulled was an act. There was usually a hint of smugness or arrogance behind that face. Not this one. He was asleep with just a perfectly calm face. He looked far younger too or…he looked his age she supposed. She decided to take a photo. Just for safekeeping. With all the other ones. She'd found more film too. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ◇ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･☆

Chishiya found he could breathe much easier playing alone again. He could walk easier, focus better, plan more. Though it could've also been thanks in part to the fact that he'd slept. For a few hours actually. He felt much better even though he'd been asleep sitting on the floor. Maybe Kuina had a point about sleeping. Whatever.

He walked up to an apartment complex. A fairly large one at that. There seemed to be quite a few players filing in. This would be a big game. He wondered what. Games with a lot of players could really be anything. Clubs or spades usually. From what he'd found. Maybe there was no pattern, but he thought his theories were good. Good enough. Better than wandering around like an idiot. He kept to himself, as he did in most games, finding that he learned more when there wasn't someone talking to him. 

Like that guy. 

The one who'd somehow convinced the remaining players to work together. Smart. A simple plan, but a smart one. He couldn't knock it. The plan worked. Just barely, he had a feeling. But he'd also learned something even more worthwhile. Beach. Beach. There was a place called The Beach. 

"Likely some sort of organised group who may have figured out more about this world."

Kuina poked at her ramen and squinted, stirring it intently. "That makes sense. They have to at least be organised from what you've said. Beach can't be a real beach though. Doesn't track."

"I was thinking the same. Probably just a made up name. Or some sort of reference to where it is."

"Mmmhmmm. Eat your food." Kuina pointed to his still mostly full bowl.

"I am eating."

"I could find a map. We could look over nearby spots. Maybe…resort? Spa?" Kuina mused before picking up her bowl and drinking the broth from her noodles.

Chishiya sat on the floor, hunched over his bowl, hood pulled all the way up. He was thinking, which was occasionally an involved process. "You might be onto something brainiac."

"Thanks. Ever plan on giving that back?" She nodded to her jacket, which had yet to be returned since she lent it to him to prevent him from freezing. "Maybe. Just wait." He liked it. He didn't want to give it back. She'd be fine without it. He could consider it payment for all the stupid pictures she kept taking of him. 

"Now you're asking me to stay? I thought I'd die in a game before you ever did that."

"Whatever. Let's find this Beach thing soon. Wanna play with me tomorrow?" 

Kuina giggled. 

Chishiya sighed.

"I'm sorry. It's not funny. Sure I'll play with you."

"Grow up."

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ♧   ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･☆

The game venue was a gym. A gym so she figured it would be spades. She was good at spades. He wasn't, but they were together so she'd help him. It would be easy. There were a lot of players. Twenty-one of them to be exact. Twenty-one so she figured it would be spades. Imagine her surprise when she took her phone, standing on the complete opposite side of the room from Chishiya, and heard; "Registration Closed! Game: Survey. Difficulty: Five of Hearts. Rule: Players must walk to the center when the statement applies to them. Players may also move when the statement doesn't apply to them if they are not caught. Being caught moving when something is untrue will result in a Game Over. Accusing when something is true will result in a Game Over. Clear Condition: Reach the center. Game Start!”

She looked up from the phone and saw Chishiya already looking at her. 

She'd never played a hearts game. Ever.

Why now?

She looked at him for some sort of hint, but he only raised his brows and began walking to the next room. The players filed into a larger, emptier room and Kuina saw an elderly man from the corner of her eye, he was clearly panicking. He rubbed his hands together and shuffled slowly. "Hey grandpa, you'll be okay." He looked up at her with his shaky body and wrinkly face. He was the first really old person she'd seen here. He had to have been at least eighty. What a way to spend the back end of your life.

The man wore a nice sweater with a diamond pattern and a pair of khakis and dress shoes. "Thank you. You look like my granddaughter. I miss her." He put his shaky hands into his pockets and shuffled to the next room alongside Kuina. "Just play well and you'll see her again."

"You're a nice young lady to say that, but I'm not too good at these games."

"Where was your granddaughter when you ended up here?"

"On her way to pick me up! She takes me to the store and we eat lunch together too." Kuina looked down at this old man, his patches of wispy silver hair, liver spots on his skin, wrinkled hands. She felt so bad for him. "...How many games have you played?"

"Just one other. It was a simple puzzle sort of game. I played well enough."

"Diamonds?"

"Yes that's it. I still have strong skills like that in my old age. Some people, their minds start to go, but not me." The man laughed and patted her arm as they walked. Kuina nodded, opening the door for him since no one bothered to hold it. "I'm sure you're clever enough for this too then. Good luck hm?" She didn't know if she was clever enough for it though.

They all stood on some sort of circular platform along the edges. It was massive. The center of it felt…miles away. It was also marked with a smaller circle which made it noticeable. She looked left and right at the players, spotting Chishiya four people to her left. He glanced at her and smirked, probably not very reassuring to anyone else who saw it, but it managed to calm her down. If only just a bit. Across from her was a woman in shorts and…sunglasses even in the dark gym. "Please step forward once when the statement applies to you."

Kuina could feel this sense of dread and paranoia crawling along her flesh as she waited. She didn't quite understand the game and kept replaying the stupidly vague rules in her head until the robotic voice chimed overhead again. “Statement One. You have thirty seconds. I am Japanese." She could hear people hesitantly shuffle forward. It was such a…basic thing.

The questions were simple for the most part, nothing too difficult or even worth lying about. Also nothing that actually required thirty seconds to think. She figured she'd be…fine.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ♡ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

The game was easy. Most hearts games were as he'd come to learn. Well…they were functionally easy. Complexity wasn't the point. It was manipulation. He stood with his hands in his pockets and pondered the conundrum of it. What made the game a problem? There was no time limit. No need to rush. In theory, if no one got too impatient, everyone could live. So what was the point? He didn't really look too hard at anyone, he didn't see the need. If people lied, good for them. No one seemed inspired to. The only thing that annoyed him was if enough statements didn't apply this could take all night. They had to have been here already for about fifteen minutes.

“Statement Twelve. You have thirty seconds. I am younger than thirty.” 

Finally, a teenage girl reached the center circle and her phone chimed. “Congratulations! Game Cleared. You may exit the arena. There are nine spots left.”

And there it was.

Panic. Immediate panic on faces, in bodies. It was instantly apparent. The amount of winners was limited which wasn't disclosed before, likely to manufacture the effect he was seeing. His eyes drifted across all the players. He'd be paying attention now. That was for sure. The teenage girl abandoned her phone in the center and scurried out of the gym before someone could be mad at her for winning. 

Chishiya was watching every single player as closely as possible, looking for telltale signs of liars. There were things most humans did while lying. He didn't look at Kuina at all. He was trying to maintain focus.

“Statement Fifteen. You have thirty seconds. I have a well paying job.” 

A woman looked off to her left, her chest raised with a silent but deep inhale, and she rubbed her palm with her fingers before stepping forward. It all happened in the span of a few seconds, but Chishiya caught it all. “That woman in the blue shirt. She's a liar.”

“An accusation has been made.” The entire room went still. He was the first person to even attempt to accuse someone of lying. The woman turned to Chishiya and her expression plummeted. The voice broke the silence overhead. “This accusation is correct.” Then the distinctive laser came down and subtracted a player.

That would make things easier.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ♤ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Kuina had never seen Chishiya play so…aggressively before. True, she hadn't seen him play much because they agreed to not play together, but the times she'd seen him in action he was more calculated and passive. Doing his own thing and letting players do theirs. 

Now she saw him watching players like a tiger stalking prey, searching for any indication of a lie. At the faintest hint, he struck them down. She didn't know how he could even tell who was or wasn't lying. Or why he was playing so aggressively when he was making good progress himself. It encouraged others to attempt accusations of their own. Some were successful. Others backfired.

“Congratulations! Game Cleared. There are two spots left.”

Kuina was sure to make it. She was quite literally one step away from entering the circle, but when she looked back she saw three more players. The elderly man who was extremely far behind, very unlikely to make it. He smiled at her and waved his hand nonchalantly as if he wasn't upset by his obvious impending doom. She smiled back, hoping to at least give him a nice goodbye. There was another man with a low haircut and swim shorts on, hands crossed over his chest.

And Chishiya.

That was it.

The man was further ahead compared to Chishiya. Far enough that he could beat him with maybe two more true statements. Chishiya? Maybe four. Or five. It was always possible the next statements wouldn't apply to the man so he wouldn't move, especially with the chokehold of fear Chishiya's gaming strategy had placed on the game's mood. However, if she were him, she'd risk it.

“Statement Thirty. You have thirty seconds. I finished university.”

Before Kuina took her step forward, a bold faced lie, naturally, she turned and looked the man up and down as he stepped forward, now right behind her. Chishiya moved too, but it wasn't enough. 

“Liar. In the shorts, he's lying.”

The man looked at Kuina as she locked eyes with him and he gritted his teeth and squinted.

“An accusation has been made.”

He didn't give much in the way of revealing exactly how right she was. “Fuck you.” That revealed exactly how right she was.

“This accusation is correct.”

The game ended with Kuina and Chishiya taking over the last two spots and clearing the game. She felt like she could breathe again. They began to exit the gym, Kuina playing with her bracelet and humming while they walked. She could now safely say she didn't like hearts games.

“How did you know he was lying? Even I couldn't tell.”

Kuina looked over at him and shrugged, thinking about making a bracelet when they got back. That would help her calm down from this debacle. “I didn't know. I just…took a chance.”

Chishiya stopped walking.

“...What?”

“He would've beaten you.”

She looked back at him, unsure why he seemed so offended that she technically saved his life. She waved at him, signalling him to keep walking with her. He didn't move for a moment, as if he were too stunned to. Then he shook his head and walked up next to her. “That was stupid and uncalculated. You could’ve died. What would you have done?”

“Dunno. Be dead I guess.”

“Kuina.”

She looked over at him and could see his usually neutral face riddled with concern. His smirk had turned into a subtle frown and his poorly bleached brows were knitted together. He pulled at the string of his bracelet and hid his other hand in the sleeve of her, basically now his hoodie. She swore she could see him gnawing at the inside of his cheek. It was the most…genuine emotion she'd seen from him while he was awake. Awake he was either neutral, sarcastic, or smug. Not much else. Now she could see that he was afraid. And she didn't know how to handle that gracefully. So she poked him in the shoulder and chuckled sheepishly.

“Sorry. Geez. I love you too.”

He frowned even more in response, looking over at her and scoffing. “Wh- No. That’s not- No.”

“You were scared I could've died. Not really a reaction reserved for people you just tolerate. And I really am sorry for scaring you. I guess I was scared too.”

“Apology not accepted. Don't do anything like that again. It was stupid. You're not stupid.”

“If it makes you feel any better, if I was wrong we would've been dead together probably.”

“It does not.”

She tried to suppress her smile since it was serious and fair that he was upset, but his reaction was sweet. For him. “So did you see the players in swimwear?”

“I did. Beach?”

“Maybe.”

“Actually yes.” They both turned right at the exit when another voice interrupted their conversation. The woman from before with the sunglasses. She stood with her arms crossed and her sunglasses still on, but it was obvious she was sizing them up. “You're from The Beach?”

“Yes. You two could be too. I saw the way you played. You're good players. You could be assets to us. Here.” She held out a tiny piece of paper and neither one of them moved to take it for a moment before Kuina leaned forward to grab it. “Thanks.”

“If you come, bring your cards.”

Then she was gone.

“And you made fun of me for keeping the cards.” That was the first thing Chishiya said after their strange encounter. “You don't know what they do with the cards there. They could be making a collage or something stupid.”

“True.”

Chapter Text

Chishiya liked answers. He liked knowing things. He did not like the Beach. Unfortunately for him, the two seemed very closely related. At least as things stood now.

“So are we just not gonna go? It's been a while since that lady talked to us. And, I mean, we were right. It's at a resort.” Kuina laid on the floor, sprawled out, looking up at the ceiling as she talked to Chishiya, who stood at the kitchen counter silently. “Any notes Doctor?”

“Don't call me that. And honestly…I think it's weird. Big group? Post apocalyptic world? You're smart enough to see where I'm going with this…”

“Could be super culty. Yeah. Fair point. So what do we do then? I thought you wanted to learn something? The way we've been going hasn't taught us shit about this world.” He looked down at the woman laying on the floor and sighed. “I know.”

“So we can't really keep doing things the same way.”

“I know.”

“We have the location right here.”

“Kuina.”

“Sorry. Just saying. We can totally handle a weird cult.” He scoffed, finding her casual declaration silly. Though he didn't exactly doubt them. He walked away from the counter and sat on the floor beside her, pushing her arm aside to make space. “Fine. We can go today. We can hide our stuff here just in case we need a safe house. Hm?” He looked down at the woman and their eyes locked onto each other. They stared in silence until Kuina cracked a smile and turned away. “Damnit, you're so good at that.” Without officially establishing them, they'd started having staring contests that ended when one of them smiled first. Kuina always lost.

Having a friend…was weird for Chishiya.

It was weird in a lot of ways.

He never really had friends as people described them. He could get on with people very well, but nobody ever really…hung out with him of their own free will. He also felt like in all the years of his life, he picked a terrible time to finally make a friend.

Most people didn't really have to worry about the extreme likelihood of their friend dying horribly. He wished sometimes at the start that she'd leave him alone. So he wouldn't grow attached and he could stay so focused nothing could get in his way. He was always focused, but his focus was split. “Come on.”

Getting to the stupid place was like a day trip.

They had to walk for ages, both of them slightly on guard even though they never saw many people during the day. Maybe from a distance and all, but not typically. Which made him theorise that there was no way there were as many people here as it seemed. Or perhaps there were sometime before he arrived. Anyhow, they walked together, mostly in silence, thinking of what to do and what would happen upon their arrival. 

Then they arrived.

It was about as warm a welcome as he could've expected.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ◇ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･☆

When the bags were taken off of their heads, Kuina found that they could've attempted to seem a little bit less like a stereotypical cult. It was kind of dramatic for no reason in that sense. Anyway, they sat, tied to chairs, surrounded by people in vacation outfits. Two of which she actually recognised. One being the man she fought in one of her games. He didn't look…particularly happy to see them. Though last time they saw each other they tased him. She looked unamused and she looked over at Chishiya to find that he looked about as bored as he always did.

“You two look very tough. Not even frightened or concerned. I like that!” A middle aged man in a colorful robe and swim trunks walked back and forth as he talked, looking through a stack of cards. “You've got good cards too! I can't wait to hear how you play.” This place was culty. Like she said. The man stopped and faced them, bowing slightly and smiling. “My apologies. I'm so rude. My name is Hatter! These are my Executives. This is the Beach. Although…considering you two made it here in the middle of the day without help, I'm sure you knew that. That takes dedication. Allow me to explain this place, hm?”

Yeah really culty. 

They had to listen to this weird sales pitch while strapped to chairs and Kuina almost wanted to interrupt the man but refrained so that he wouldn't repeat anything. “So…any questions?”

“Yeah why are we tied to chairs?”

Hatter smiled and pointed. “Excellent question my dear girl! So you may decide now if you wish to join us! Based on your cards, we'd love players like you.”

“Alright and if we don't?”

“We'd really rather you did. Who…who got the eight of diamonds? Which one of you?” Before Kuina could respond to the question, Chishiya muttered under his breath, just loud enough to be heard. “Me. I got that one.” They'd both played that game. Before they met actually. They'd beaten that maze separately. Without help from each other. Why'd he take all the credit? She was sure he had a good reason. Hatter laughed and nodded, sifting through the cards some more. “Wonderful! A-And the nine? The spades?”

“Her.”

Hatter seemed extremely pleased by these answers. He giggled and nodded, putting the cards into his robe pocket. “You two are very valuable players! You must join us. We hope you'll say yes! Actually…we're not exactly asking, but we do like to make it feel like people have a choice. So…what do you say? Actually…we'll give you a second to talk it over!” He waved his…Executives away from them and the group huddled on the other side of the room. Kuina turned to Chishiya and mouthed; ‘This is clearly a cult.’ To which the man rolled his eyes, nodded, and mouthed back; ‘Yeah, but we can handle it.’ 

She didn't disagree. 

So she cleared her throat and spoke up. “We'd like to join you. We'll play the games, you can keep our cards.” Hatter skipped over, clapping. “Perfect! Such clever players! I can't wait to see what cards you bring us! Oh the lovely Mira will help you pick out an outfit and show you to your rooms! Welcome to the Beach!”

Wearing swimwear was stupid.

It was smart, but also stupid. 

They picked out clothes that were deemed acceptable and shown to their rooms to change. This resort must've been so nice before. It was massive after all. She turned at a knock on her door and went to open it, finding Chishiya and frowning. “This is clearly a double standard, you're basically fully clothed.” She had on a blue, floral print bikini while he wore long swim shorts and her jacket that he refused to return, but had it mostly zipped up. “I am shirtless actually.”

“Yeah but no one can see that!”

He grinned just for a second before entering her room and closing the door. “You'll be okay. No one's gonna bother you. Promise. Sorry about earlier. We're both pretty impressive but no need to let them know you can complete high level spades and diamonds. Understand?”

Oh. He was protecting her.

“That would put a target on my back wouldn't it?”

“On your forehead probably. One of us needs to be less conspicuous than the other for my plan.”

She sat down on the bed, patting the space beside her. “Ah. We just got here and he's got a plan. Do tell.” 

In the midst of Chishiya explaining his plan like a deranged man, there came a knock on the door. It was almost game time after all. Maybe they had reminders about that. They opened the door to find a man in a hat, standing awkwardly. “Uh is the man you came with in there too?”

“Yeah why?”

“It's game time. You'll both be judged today so if you could…head down?” Kuina nodded and watched the man shuffle off down the halls. “Oooo. We're getting judged.”

Chishiya walked past her out of the door, waving her to follow him down the hall. “Just don't die.”

“That's so sweet of you.”

“If you die it'll mess up my plan.”

She laughed and elbowed him, much to his displeasure as he grumbled and straightened out his jacket. They walked down into the main extravagant lobby that was gradually filling with players in swimwear. She supposed this place wouldn't be so bad if you weren't good at surviving outside of the games. People to take care of your basic needs and let you have fun. People to socialize with. She watched Chishiya walking and noted his hands in his pockets, looking around very subtly. “Hey you bitch.” Kuina felt like one of them was being addressed but neither of them seemed motivated to stop walking. “I'm talking to you.” Chishiya gently pulled Kuina to the side in one fluid motion to avoid her being grabbed by the man they'd seen in the game and among the Executives. He carried a large assault rifle in his back. Chishiya turned around slowly and raised an eyebrow at the man. “What?”

“What? I wasn't even talking to you. I was talking to the bitch that tased me.”

“Okay well…she doesn't have time to talk to you. So what do you want?” Chishiya had this…special sort of way about him when he was being purposefully annoying. He was smug and serious at the same time. He kept his hands in his pocket and looked the man up and down slowly. The Executive with the gun took a step forward and looked down. “You think I won't knock your teeth out? Wipe that stupid smile off your face?” 

“I think you might try.”

“Listen you little sh-” 

“Niragi! Enough.” A man, another Executive, solidly built with a shaved head, called out to the man and he froze, closing his eyes and grumbling before turning away to go over to the man who'd called him. Niragi. What a jackass. “Chishiya don't look so proud of yourself, you can't even win a fistfight and he's got a gun.”

“An idiot like that could only wish to shoot me.”

Kuina crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head in mock disappointment. “Chishiya.”

“We can just tase him again if it comes down to it. Maybe even if it doesn't come down to it. Look, play well. I'll see you later.” Then he was waved over by the woman in sunglasses who had told them about the true location of the Beach. She hoped she'd be able to talk to that woman again sometime soon. “See you later.” She was waved over by a man in glasses. Another Executive. He'd been silent at their initial interrogation. “Hey. I'm Kuina.” The man pushed up his glasses and looked her up and down. “Kuzuryu. Let's get going.”

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ♧   ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･☆

Chishiya thought being judged was a little excessive but knew it had a lot to do with the Hatter's seemingly favorite rule. Death to traitors. What a perfect way to see how loyal or pliable new people that seemed potentially problematic could be.

Chishiya was definitely a potential problem. He planned on being one anyway. It was necessary to be a problem. He didn’t mind making himself obnoxious, in fact, it was one of his favorite pastimes. Although, he didn’t trust these people in the slightest. He just wanted whatever game this would be to hurry up and end so he could tell Kuina more about his plan. That and he kept thinking about her. He was worried about her. Because he didn’t trust these people. So the sooner he got back and saw her the better. If it was just the two of them like before, he wouldn’t be so worried.

“I’m Ann. We already met. I also already know what you can do. You’re a harsh player." The woman in shorts, pushed her sunglasses onto her head and walked beside Chishiya as they approached the game arena. “I guess so. That’s just how winning works out here. It’s not personal.” He tried to avoid it honestly. Killing people in games for no reason. If there was a need, he’d do it without a second thought though. Wouldn’t feel bad about it either. Like he had in the survey game. Not that this woman needed to know that. “I told Hatter you two might come. He’s interested in you.”

Chishiya said nothing.

He just wanted to play the game. He’d be exhausted all the time now. He’d be playing the games of this world and the game of the Beach. He used to get a break before. Now it was always game time.

“Registration Closed! Game: Equations. Difficulty: Two of Diamonds. Rule: Solve the mathematical equations on each door before time runs out. Solving problems incorrectly will result in a time penalty. Clear Condition: Exit before time runs out. Game Start!”

Easy. Well, the time to answer the equations was a little long.  If it was shorter, he’d put it at a three. He let the others in his player group answer the questions but they got progressively harder. Even still, he did nothing. Room after room, question after question. He could see Ann eyeing him, waiting for him to do something but he paid her no mind.

“I-I don’t know this one.” The nerd who’d taken it upon himself to answer most of the questions, stuttered and frowned, looking around at the other confused faces. It was like the air was slowly being sucked out of the room as people began to panic and the polite robotic voice continually reminded them of how many seconds remained. Or maybe the air was being sucked out of the room. He didn’t design death traps. 

He had a feeling Ann knew the answer too. But it was his test. She wasn’t just evaluating his knowledge or skills. She was staring him down, taking inventory on his personality. With ten seconds remaining, he sighed and entered the numbers and letters for the solution and walked right through.

“What the hell man? You knew the entire time?” A woman crossed her arms over her chest and yelled at him, the other players nodded in agreement. They murmured about what a jerk he was and Ann just stood off to the side, watching. He kept his hands in his jacket pockets and shrugged. “I didn’t want you to expect me to do all the work. I don’t mind waiting for a question to be answered. I don’t have anywhere else to be.” A man geared up, probably to beat Chishiya’s ass, but was stopped by the reminder that they only had fifteen seconds left. Chishiya stood by the equation with his arms crossed, mimicking the woman who’d critiqued him and tilting his head. He was basically challenging someone to have a problem with his choice. People in this world could be insane. What was to say he wouldn’t kill them all out of spite?

Nothing. 

With this realisation, everyone let him answer the remaining questions in silence. As such, they were all able to clear the game without a single loss. “You can’t think this will reflect well on you.”

“I didn’t. Thanks for clarifying.” He walked ahead of her but she stepped in front of him suddenly, hands on her hips. “Listen. Hatter likes you. I've told him what you can do. He wants you to be an Executive and I don't want to upset him by telling him it's not a good idea. He gets very hyperfixated when he wants something.”

“Okay?” Chishiya couldn't really bring himself to care what Hatter wanted. Ann sighed and glared at him, she didn't seem annoyed by his nonchalance. It was more like she was neutral about everything. “What's the name of the woman you came in with?”

Chishiya said nothing.

“Based on that response you may want to start caring a little more about what Hatter wants. Let's get to the car.”

Chapter Text

They were watching. And plotting. Constantly. Honestly Kuina felt like she was in a spy movie or something. The way they had to slink around…well actually, Chishiya did the slinking. Kuina hid in plain sight. She didn't have to do anything special when nobody paid attention to her. 

He, on the other hand, had become an executive in like 5 minutes and so he didn't get to do anything really without being watched. “Are you coming with me?”

“No. I'm resting. You should be happy with me.”

Kuina shrugged, tilting her head, retying her bikini top with a double knot. Just…to be safe. “I guess so but you could socialise. Make a friend.”

“You're plenty.”

“Get a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. If that's how you just so happen to be.” She pulled her hair up, mostly dreading doing recon today. Not because it was hard, but the Beach was just…too damn much most of the time. All the partying and drinking and…she knew she looked like a party girl but she really wasn't. She mostly worked and took care of her mother. She liked looking that way but she was afraid of people…seeing her at parties. She always, even now, had this fear that people would know. “Unimportant. I am not most people's type.”

Kuina looked at Chishiya playing with the bracelet she'd made him. He only wore his “cult bracelet” as he called it, when he had to go out. Other than that he took it off every opportunity. She asked if their friendship bracelets made them a cult to which he replied two people don't make a cult, just an unhealthy relationship. “But you're so…doctor. And that hair is a big selling point. I'm sure we can find you someone to let off some steam with.”

“One, I feel like you had to fight to find those compliments, am I not handsome? T-”

“Well you're not tall.”

“ Two, I do not just let off steam. With anyone. Which people don't usually like to learn. Not that it's personal, but people tend to take it personally.” Kuina slowly let her hands fall by her sides, looking at her reflection, then shifting her focus to him in the mirror. “...Oh. Well then don't let me stop your nap.”

“Thank you. You'll do fine alone.”

“Obviously. And Chishiya?”

“Hm?”

“You are handsome. Just fyi. But that hair is awful.”

“Out.” He grumbled and turned his back to her, pulling his jacket off and setting it beside him. Kuina giggled and had to bite her tongue because she knew Chishiya's playfulness only lasted so long before he'd start ignoring her. So she left the room. 

The Beach and its stupid rules and its stupid guests. She couldn't wait to blow this popsicle stand. Get the cards. She wasn't sure she believed in the whole card theory, but it was a theory and Chishiya seemed to like it enough. Actually, Kuina wasn't sure how much he liked the theory. Sometimes she thought he just liked to cause trouble. She walked down the empty halls, not shocked that most people were partying. She could hear the music from here. It was always like this during the daytime, before game time. She was dragging her feet getting down there. 

“Excuse me. Where's Chishiya?” 

Kuina heard a voice from behind her in the hall and turned sharply at it. Ann. She had a stern, authoritative voice. Always serious and pretty stoic. Honestly, of all the Executives she seemed the most normal. She was serious, sure, but she seemed normal other than that. The other Executives were varying degrees of strange from what she saw and heard about them. Ann pushed her sunglasses onto her head and walked over to Kuina, arms crossed over her chest. Ann had this sort of intimidating yet comforting energy to her. She looked her up and down and Kuina had to stop herself from looking down at herself to wonder if something was amiss with the way she looked. She always wanted to check when people stared at her.  “He's…in my room. Taking a nap.”

Ann continued dragging her eyes up and down Kuina's form. She was used to being stared at but she felt like she was being judged in a different way than usual. Analyzed? Evaluated? Then out popped a question from the woman. “Do you sleep with him?”

“Well yeah.”

Ann bristled slightly in obvious shock before regaining her composure quickly. Though not quickly enough for Kuina to not notice. She shook her head quickly and waved her hands, laughing nervously. “Wait no! Not like that! That came out wrong. …I-In the same bed. I meant in the same bed. Not like that .”

Why would she say that without even thinking?

Ann lowered her head and Kuina almost swore she could hear her laughing. She looked up at her and nodded as if she understood. “So…you two knew each other before?”

“Nope. Met here. I know he seems weird. It's because he is, but he's one of the only good things that's happened to me since coming here. I don't know if he's grateful to me, but I'm grateful to him.” She wondered if that sounded cheesy or not, but Ann didn't seem to mind it. She hummed and a slight smile graced her features. “That's…sweet. Not a lot of us can say the same I guess.”

Ann looked around them in the halls and sighed, stepping a bit closer to Kuina. “This conversation was meant to take place with Chishiya himself, but I know you'll relay the message. If you really care about him, which you seem to.” Kuina shrugged and waited in silence for her to go on. “Try and keep an eye on him. He doesn't seem like a rule follower. Everyone knows Hatter likes him but I also know Niragi doesn't.”

Kuina scoffed and rolled her eyes, looking off to the side. She thought about the game at the theme park every time she saw Niragi's face or heard his name. “Niragi's a jackass. And a creep.” She saw him bothering other women at the Beach too. Aguni didn't do well enough keeping his dogs on a leash for her.

“He is. But he's also a militant which technically makes him an authority figure. So keep Chishiya and yourself out of trouble.”

“And who keeps Niragi out of trouble?” She grumbled back in annoyance. “Aguni does. All the milita-”

“Oh please.” Usually Kuina was the warm, fuzzy one. Hence why she was the one who gathered intel and talked to people. Not now though. She felt rude. Well she was being rude. She wanted to say worse things and apologise simultaneously. Ann didn't bite back though. She only stood there and tilted her head slowly. “Did he do something to you?”

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ♡ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Chishiya slept for the whole of maybe fifteen minutes before waking up. Power naps were stupid and yet they were basically the only naps he could take. When he was alone. He woke up and tidied up. He didn't stay in the room he'd been given. Which was nice and big because he was an Executive. It stressed him out to no end. He liked smaller spaces. So they both stayed in the room given to Kuina. He knew people thought it was weird but nobody could question it. He sat alone and mapped out his plan. Almost to a compulsive degree. He needed it to be perfect. Absolutely perfect. The only part that was missing was an idiot stupid, gullible, or naive enough to help him execute it fully. Those three adjectives were synonyms to Chishiya.

Finally she came back.

“How was it?” He asked.

“Stupid.” She replied and flopped down beside him. “Found someone though. Guy named Arisu. He s-”

“He was in that game I played. No need to explain. He's perfect. We'll get him in on it.” Kuina nodded as he spoke and he sighed, able to tell she was tired. “I'm lucky you don't screw me over. You're vicious.” She teased and pressed her face flat into the mattress. “I don't need to. I know all your secrets.” He stated plainly, playing with the loose string of his bracelet. “Oh? Such as?”

"You snore when you sleep."

Chishiya couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth as the blankets rustled rapidly when Kuina sat up. She sat up, pushing her palms flat into the mattress and scoffing. “I don't snore. That is malicious slander.”

“You do snore. It's how I always know when you're asleep for sure.” He turned and gave her a smug look, shrugging as if daring her to challenge him. They stared each other down for a solid minute before Kuina sighed in defeat. “Fine I snore. Sorry. I can't help it. …Is it like bad? Like loud?"

“No.”

“Come on. You can tell me the truth. Is that why you don't sleep well?” He actually slept better when she was around. Snoring and all.

"No. It's pretty quiet actually. It's…kinda nice." At this, Kuina laughed, shaking her head and stretching out in bed, kicking him gently. Very clearly, she didn't believe him. "Bullshit. How could snoring be nice? No need to make me feel better. Scale of earthquake to volcanic eruption, how loud do I snore?" He realised even before he said it that it could sound like he was poking fun at her. He could just let her think that. 

Instead he told her what he meant.

"My fiance used to snore when she slept too." 

Kuina's smile softened and she blinked in surprise. "Oh."

"What? Don't look so surprised. You ask me if I had kids but never if I had a partner?"

"But earlier you said- I figured- You just don't seem- …What happened to her?"

"I work a lot in the real world. I didn't have enough time for her, so she left me. It was just very difficult for her. …I really loved her. Anyway, I guess it's better maybe she would've ended up here too if she was stuck with me." He looked at Kuina and frowned as she rolled over to him. He held out his hand as she got closer and shook his head. "Why? Wait. What are you doing?"

 She moved past his hand and leaned down, hugging him firmly. He froze and let her hug him, but he didn't hug back. "Sorry. You looked like you needed it." He could feel the extra heat from her starting to migrate away from him and huffed, standing as she pulled away and hugging back. "Not one word. Not a single one. Damn it you're so tall." 

As they separated, Chishiya cleared his throat and suppressed the warm, fuzzy feeling at the edges of his limbs and turned away from Kuina. “Alright. Enough of that. Let's just get this done. Easy. We steal these cards, we get out, go back to the apartment before anyone knows what happened.”

“You're awfully confident.” She said, looking him up and down, arms crossed over her chest. She walked over to the side of the bed to go find her normal clothes that she kept by her bedside. She said she'd genuinely rather die than have to wear bikini bottoms to sleep every single night.

“Of course. A major component of a good plan is confidence.”

“If you say so. I'm always with you.”

Chapter Text

The Beach was weird but not too hard to navigate. They tried not to spend too much time together during the day so people forgot they went together. It worked better for their plan. That and the fact that he was an Executive now. Which worked way better for their plan. Made things infinitely easier. Kuina lay in her bed and stared at the ceiling, sighing. “I wish I could go back to the apartment. These bracelets just aren’t the same as mine.” She poked fun at the numbered Beach bracelets, lamenting the fact that the bracelet she’d made to match his had snapped off during her last game.

“I’d take mine off to give it to you. If only I could.” Chishiya paced the room, hands behind his back. “It’s yours. I want mine. If you give me yours then we still won’t have friendship bracelets. I need to get back to the apartment and make another. When are we supposed to escape the cult?”

“As soon as Arisu goes through with his part of the plan, we should be good to go. As long as he does, we can leave right after, and you can make another bracelet.” Kuina nodded and rolled over onto her stomach. “I almost feel a little bad. I mean your plan basically involves sacrificing him.”

“Yeah. It’s the fastest way to get the cards without playing super detective. Which would just put one of us at risk. And take far too long. I can only stand so much more of this place.”

“It's only been like a month.”

“This is better. Now that Hatter’s dead we only have so much time before this whole place collapses on itself and we don’t want to be here for that. Trust me.” She watched him pace and nodded. He knew that despite all her questions, Kuina understood the plan perfectly. He appreciated how often she subjected him to these little extra questions about things in their plan. She may have been just trying to annoy him at times, but it helped him make everything airtight for them. 

Actually he thought about how far they’d come. It was now always ‘we’. And ‘Our plan’ and ‘Our theories’ and ‘We need to do this.’ He liked it. Not that he'd verbally admit that to her. It made things mildly more stable in this world where nothing made sense. To have someone he genuinely enjoyed the company of. “I know that. I’m not saying the plan is bad. Don’t reexplain the plan to me. The plan is good. I meant I feel bad. It feels like an icky plan. Don’t you feel bad?”

“No.” He didn’t even seem to think about it before responding to her. Chishiya turned to watch her expression at such a straightforward answer that lacked even the slightest bit of hesitation. He took in her little stunned blink and the subtle frown that crossed her face. He was more surprised that she was surprised by this point. He felt like she really shouldn’t be. She understood him better and better the longer they stayed together, and that answer was very in character for him. It still stunned her. Odd. “Don’t look at me like that.” Kuina replied with a glare.

“Like what?”

“Like the way you’re looking. Listen, I’m not that surprised but how can you just…not care like that?” Kunia wasn’t the most charitable or caring in this world, but she wasn’t quite like Chishiya. This he knew. She certainly didn’t have a bleeding heart by any stretch of the imagination, but she was a little more…empathetic than him. If she were too caring, especially in this world, Chishiya knew he’d have grown tired of her quickly.

Though Chishiya didn’t think of himself as heartless. He just had a…shorter list of things that he cared about.

“I care. I care about you. I care about me.”

“And what about everyone else?”

He sat down on the very edge of the bed and looked back at her, squinting and shaking his head as if he was the one surprised that she’d even ask such a stupid question. “Everyone else is expendable.” Their eyes met as they just sat in silence and she seemed to be wondering for a split second if he was being sarcastic or smartass like usual. She saw very quickly that he wasn’t. 

That…was both terribly disconcerting and mildly comforting.

And then, after that, they lay down beside each other like every other night. Kuina fell asleep first, like usual, and Chishiya watched her sleep. Like usual.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ♤ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Kuina almost felt bad for Arisu and his friend. 

Well, she did feel bad. Just not very. 

Besides, even if she was going to take some time to ruminate on her wrongs, she didn’t get the chance. There was another stupid game. Chishiya was right about his suspicions of the Beach. It had been close to its expiration date. She didn’t think that the gamemakers would expedite the ending. It did confirm one of their theories. The games weren’t randomised in the slightest. They’d been thinking about that ever since Kuina played her first hearts game. How was it possible it had taken her that long to get to a hearts game if the game types were random? The probability didn’t add up. Unless, of course, the games were never random, and that was just the initial assumption. Still, they’d never stumbled across an event that could definitively confirm or deny that theory until right now. Trapping them in a venue was clever. And clearly intentional. Kuina felt anxious about separating from Chishiya. She didn’t doubt his ability to get through, but she would just feel more comfortable knowing that he was with her. In case he got into something that wasn’t his strong suit. It almost kept too much of her focus during her fight with that tattooed weirdo. She wasn’t thinking about winning the fight. She’d been thinking about leaving it. Until she accepted that she needed to shift her mindset and push all those other thoughts aside.

Leaving the Beach wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a relief. “Are you happy now?” She grumbled as they collected cards together on the rooftop after he’d thrown them. “Very. We have the cards, don’t we?”

“We’ll see after we’re done picking them up. Any idea how we win this game?”

“Haven’t thought about it. I was trying not to die. Do you have any ideas?”

“Also was avoiding death, but there’s definitely someone who knows or knows how to find out. If I figure it, we can ditch.” She offered as she handed the cards off to Chishiya and stood with a groan, lamenting all the cuts and gashes she had on her body from the sword and the glass. He'd have to patch her up.

“We can’t ditch.”

“Why the hell not? This place sucks. Even more than before.”

Chishiya tutted in disappointment at her standard impulsiveness and her uncharacteristic shortsightedness. He held up the stack of cards, as if to state the obvious without speaking. She groaned and threw her head back, rolling her eyes. “We’re gonna die about these stupid cards.”

“We’re fine.”

“Whatever. I’ll see you soon. Don’t die.” Then she went off to solve the puzzle. Or to find someone who could. Her brief chat with Chishiya did calm her nerves ever so slightly, even as the potential loss of a game hung over her head and the sting of her injuries bothered her with every step she took. The fact that he trusted her to figure this out without his direct help was nice. It wasn’t even a testament of how far they’d come. It was how their relationship had begun. They always played games separately and came back alive. He’d never doubted her or her skills. Not even her intelligence. Even if their minds worked in…different ways.

He was right to entrust finding the solution to her. The solution was Ann. Ann, who had made it generally clear from all the time she’d spent with Chishiya with both of them being Executives, that she didn’t particularly care for him. If it was up to Chishiya to get the answers from Ann, it would’ve been a headache. Though, annoyingly enough, she also found that the solution could’ve been acquired with significantly less death had anyone been allowed two seconds to think about the game. “Where is he?” Ann asked as she was supported by the woman while they walked towards the noise. Kuina grunted, shaking her head in confusion. She was mostly fighting through the ever growing pain of the thousand cuts she had on her body. Bringing fists to a swordfight. Only her. That agony combined with having to support someone else didn’t leave her much mental capacity to converse. “Who?”

“Your shadow. He’s always blending into the background somewhere behind you. Even if I can’t see him, I know he’s around. Easiest way to find him is just to find you first. Where is he?”

“Busy.” Kuina didn’t know if she agreed with that assessment. Chishiya wasn’t always around. That was a bit dramatic wasn’t it? They spent a fair amount of time apart, but he was always skulking around in shadows or corners. Not the best image to have. “Busy. Right. I don’t know how you do it. He’s not easy to get along with.”

“He is. He’s just not for everyone. I like him fine. Yeah. He's not for everyone, but he's for me.” Kuina nodded, completely confident with her answer. She really did feel that way about him. He was clearly an acquired taste, but she liked him. He was her first and possibly only friend in this world. She trusted him. Trust went a long way in this world. Ann looked over at her and seemed to want to say something else, but let her have her answer. Which Kuina appreciated. 

As she looked around the crowd of people while everyone tried to convince everyone to not kill each other, she looked up. She didn't look up before. Now she always did. With good reason. When she looked at the upper balcony, she saw Chishiya. Wearing her white jacket, looking down at everyone, arms crossed over his chest, observing. Maybe…Ann did have a point about the shadow thing. She stared until she caught his gaze, and he shrugged in amusement, raising his brows. She shrugged back and rolled her eyes. 

It was beyond time to go.

Chapter Text

The Beach ended and everyone, disappointed and disheveled, went their separate ways. It was like nobody knew quite what to do anymore. Kuina looked at the remaining former Beach residents. They were illuminated by the flame of the unstable safe haven. Injured, crying, bleeding, exhausted. It looked like a scene from the news or a disaster movie. “Kuina. Come on.” Chishiya gently brushed the back of his hand against an uncut spot on her arm to get her attention. “...What?” She turned away from the flames to meet his gaze.

“Time to go. You need patchwork. Come on. Let's go home.” He spoke quietly, probably concerned about being heard and followed. Kuina nodded eventually and began to stumble along, Chishiya by her side. They stumbled along in silence, knowing it was lucky that Chishiya was nowhere near as injured as her. He wasn't injured at all really.

So he held her as they walked up the stairs slowly, a more painful repeat of the first time they'd gone to the apartment. “Only I would get into a fight with an insane samurai.” She winced, sitting on her little couch, watching her doctor walk back and forth, gathering supplies to do his job. She was suddenly more grateful for all the looting they'd done early on. “I need to remove the glass in your feet. Why'd you walk on glass Kuina?”

“To prove I was- Fuck! ” Her eyes snapped shut and her entire body tensed, recoiling in pain at the first shard of glass being pulled. He dropped the glass into an empty instant ramen cup he'd dug out of the trash. “Breathe. There's no anesthetic to give you.”

“I have alcohol in here somewhere.”

“Blood thinner. As many cuts as you have, we can't afford it. Breathe for me. Deep breaths.”

Pulling the glass out was agonising. So slow, some shards were more painful than others; she was sweating and bleeding, gripping the arm of the couch and breathing shakily. Chishiya said nothing as he worked diligently under artificial, dim, battery powered light. He'd mutter occasionally, mostly to himself. Sometimes he'd remind her to breathe or apologise to her. 

“There.” He watched her and felt so sorry for her, wiping his bloody hands on his pants and wiping the sweat from her forehead and neck with the sleeve of his jacket. “I know. I know. I'm sorry.”

“Is it over?” She asked nervously, swallowing hard to get the words out. Kuina was tough, but she'd also been running on a lot of adrenaline. Adrenaline that was finally dissipating. She was crashing.

“Looks like I got it all, hopefully. I'd hate if you survived all those games just to die of infection. Speaking of, I need to bathe you.” He was clearly in doctor mode. Looking her over, talking with even less emotion than usual. “What?”

“You're filthy. Before I can cover your…many, many cuts, you need to be cleaned.”

“Great. Now I have to make it to the bathroom.”

“No. We can do it here. I only want you getting up to go to bed.” He sat up and yawned, standing to get water before pausing. “Is that…okay? Sorry I just realised you're not my patient. I can't demand treatments for you.”

“No it's fine. I don't want an infection and the idea of doing anything myself sounds like a fucking nightmare.”

With that reassurance, Chishiya vanished and returned with two small bowls of water. One soapy, one clear, and some other supplies. Kuina had half fallen asleep in the few moments she'd been waiting. “Kuina. Kuina.”

“Hm? Sorry.” She opened her eyes with a groan and watched him dip into the bowls with washcloths and wipe down her face first. “You smell like smoke. I mean, so do I. I'll wash up after I finish here.” His movements were delicate and practiced, telling her he sometimes did nurse's work rather than just being a doctor. “Would you mind- Or you can do that yourself- I don't want to overstep.” He washed her arms, neck, and face gingerly, halting at her torso. “You can do whatever. You're an actual doctor and it's not like anything you see will be a shock. Here we go.” She reached behind her, untying the knots of her bikini behind her neck and back. 

A wave of insecurity washed over her, but she'd had a bit of work done so that eliminated some of it. The rest diminished knowing Chishiya was clearly focused as if he were at work and knowing she was in so much dull, pulsating pain that being insecure sounded like too much effort. All that, and she trusted him. With her life. And her injured, soon to be naked body apparently. 

“Just let me know if you feel uncomfortable. Physically or any other way.” He continued with his work, just as caring, yet dispassionate as before. She was glad to stop wearing that stupid bikini. And to not smell like smoke and burning flesh. She was grateful she had someone to do this. She knew she wouldn't have done it on her own.

“My only request is to be careful with my boobs, they weren't cheap.”

Chishiya shook his head in annoyance as he wiped off the soap with the plain cloth. His disappointed and uninterested reaction to her joke made her laugh.

She quickly stopped laughing because it hurt to do so.

“Are you ever serious?”

“I am serious Chishiya. I saved a lot for that surgery. Worked a lot of hours too.”

“I'm gonna put on the disinfectant. Squeeze my shoulder if you need to. It'll burn.”

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ◇ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Chishiya was glad they'd both made it out. He was also grateful that he was a doctor. It would be better if she hadn't been hurt at all, but he could help. Make himself useful. Since she wanted to walk barefoot in glass.

It made him feel useful to clean her up, disinfect her wounds, dress her, and help her get to bed. There wasn't much in this world that felt like it had a true purpose. Even collecting the cards was a back burner past time for a theory he didn't even believe in like he used to.

He knelt slowly to lower Kuina down onto the mat and sighed, thinking about what a headache the day had been. He brushed her hair aside and stood slowly, starting to realise that his own body wasn't exactly in the best shape. His muscles were aching and cursing him as he straightened up. He gathered all the supplies up, careful about dropping or spilling anything. “I'm going to wash up. Try not to move too much.”

He took his time in the bathroom, desperate to cleanse the smell of the game from him. He took as much time as he could stand, worried about leaving Kuina alone for too long. When he came out, his first thought was trying to get her to drink water. He could hear a slight wheeze when she inhaled. Perhaps just from the yelling or exhaustion, but he worried about potential smoke inhalation. He focused on pouring from their water supply without spilling a drop. As he did so, he heard the blankets shift, and heard her inhale slowly and whimper.

His head snapped up immediately and he grabbed the cup of water, starting over to her.

“Shuntaro.”

He froze at the sound of his name.

His first name.

Just…stopped. Mid step.

They'd told each other their first names a while back now. Just during one of their long, winding conversations. Just to share. Kuina's suggestion. He found her name very fitting. She said his was a little on the nose. They never used them after that, just kept the knowledge in their heads. It felt weirdly formal for their relationship, but it also felt strange to be so casual in a situation like this. Besides, he admitted he didn't want other people hearing his name anyway. He never heard it much before in the real world.

Aside from family and his former fiance. 

He didn't have friends to call him by his first name. Just coworkers, acquaintances, old classmates, and associates. And he didn't see his parents often. Wasn't engaged anymore. So he didn't hear his first name too frequently.

It sounded bizarre.

“What? What's wrong? What hurts?” 

Chishiya almost teleported to her side, setting the cup a safe distance away on the floor and kneeling before her. She opened her eyes, making that wheezing sound that concerned him, before speaking. “I just…wanted to see what you'd do. At least I know how to get your attention fast.” She smiled weakly and looked at him, knitting her brows. “Hey… I'm sorry if I scared you. Don’t worry about me.”

He must've looked…deeply concerned or startled or…something for her to evoke an apology.

He wasn't sure how he felt. He was feeling a lot. All for a single word he was deeply familiar with. “You didn't. Scare me. Here, drink.” He took a deep breath before helping her take a drink of water. He put a hand behind her head, lifting her slightly, watching her drink the water. She didn't drink much, which he anticipated, but at least she tried. He wiped the spilled water off her chin with the back of his hand. 

He cared for her in a far more personal way than he would a patient, but working with children had given him a gentle touch anyway. 

“Can I call you your name at home? Here?” She asked as he settled down beside her. He had to listen carefully, she was quieter than usual. Home. He supposed this was his home in this world. It was her home in both worlds. He'd grown accustomed to it. He turned to look at her, flat on her back, likely too exhausted and in too much pain to move. Her eyes were closed at least.

“I've seen you naked. I think we're well beyond first names. Call me what you like, Hikari.”

As soon as he said her name, he understood why she'd said his. It was so easy to do. It didn't feel odd. Didn't sound strange. It was the easiest thing to do. As if he said it all the time. And her reaction. She smiled. “Can you call me my name at home too?”

“The answer to both questions can be yes if you try to sleep now.”

“You're a harsh doctor.”

“You're a difficult patient. I'll go out tomorrow and try to find you something for the pain.”

Chapter Text

Kuina was healing well. Chishiya had been keeping a close eye on her. It was easy when there were no games.

No games.

The main event in this world had disappeared. No games. Just silence. 

Probably for the best. A lot of people had gotten injured at the Beach. There would've been a deficit of players. Which didn't work well. Knowing the games were being controlled made him think of what people would do. Sure, the goal was to eliminate people, but kill too many too fast, and the game ends. It was like this break of emptiness was planned. To let everyone recuperate. For something bigger. Something worse.

“I'm itchy.” Kuina complained, making herself a new bracelet. He'd allowed her to move to the couch and sit up for short periods. Since they had time to rest, he wanted her to use it. No infections in sight, perfect scabs. Excellent. “That's a good thing. Scabs are supposed to be itchy. It means you're healing.”

“I'm basically better now.”

“Yeah, but the extra rest can only help.”

“True. You know, I think I wanna take my hair down. So I can dye it. But not like yours. Like good.”

“Hikari.”

Kuina smiled at his response and shrugged. She was serious about changing her hair. She wanted to switch it up. Actually…she'd thought it was cool but also that it distracted from the rest of her. So people wouldn't look at her too long. She didn't feel like she needed that anymore. Almost dying seemed to have unintended consequences. She was more confident now. Not just in her survival skills, but in herself.

“Sorry, not sorry. What do you wanna do today? Scavenge? Pictures? Relax?”

“You need to relax . I get that you feel much better, but we should use this downtime to our advantage.”

“Like theorising? It's been so long since any games have appeared. Are they cycling back through to rerun previous games?” Kuina pondered as she held out her arm to Chishiya, silently demanding he put the freshly made bracelet on her. He obliged, thinking over her question. 

“Can't be. They'd just…recycle. The city's quiet. I think the hearts game at the Beach was part of a larger culling before what's next.”

“What's next? …Face cards?” She admired her bracelet, pleased to be matching again.

“It's the only thing they haven't made anyone do yet. So it's the only thing that can't be recycled.”

“You're right. I guess…that's the delay. Shit. What are they gonna do to us?”

“Dunno. We'll be fine. Don't worry.”

“And the cards?”

“Just…play as much as you can bear. I think the rules are changing.” Chishiya leaned forward, hands on his knees, trying to envision what could be next. He was clever, but it took a unique type of cruelty to be a gamemaker. Something he wasn't capable of. “They are. They always do. Moving goalposts. We'll try to stick to our usual pattern.” Kuina added on in agreement, slowly sinking into the couch, falling asleep. She was so tired lately. He said it was the stress. And her body using energy to heal itself. She'd recover soon. 

“Hey. No. Don't sleep here. Do it properly.” He tapped her arm to jostle her awake. She frowned and grumbled in response. “I'm fine. I want you to build next to me. The little clattering noises of…whatever the hell it is you're making are comforting. Like white noise.”

“You need to lay down properly. While you still can. Come on. Up.” And Kuina slowly shifted to the side, sinking down and placing her head into his lap, stretching her legs on the sofa as far as they'd go. Which wasn't very far. She was in more of a fetal position. “I'll lay here then.”

“Don't-”

“You need to watch me sleep anyway, don't you? And you can keep building…whatever. I'll stay here.”

He was mostly annoyed that she’d called out the fact that he watched her sleep. He was never entirely sure if she was aware of it or not, but the confirmation was embarrassing.

“You are just… Fine. Fine.” It was better than her sleeping sitting up. He supposed. Besides, he doubted she'd be comfortable enough to fall asleep with him shifting back and forth, putting pieces together. Usually she'd try to guess what he was building, but she'd been asleep for most of his building this time. He didn't think she'd guess bombs anyway. Well…maybe she would.

Kuina went straight to sleep. 

In about six minutes.

He was shocked, pausing in the middle of his craft to look down and confirm he'd really heard that soft, telltale snoring from her. Sure enough, she was asleep. It was impressive. He gently set down his half constructed bomb and looked down at her, resting in his lap. He could feel a squeeze in his chest as he watched her. She wasn't in pain anymore. Luckily, she wasn't as tired as before, and she was clearly more relaxed in her own apartment rather than a room at the Beach.

She slept peacefully.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ♧   ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

The peace they had only lasted a few more days. For that, Chishiya was bitter yet grateful. Kuina wasn't sure how she felt. Anxious? Waiting for the next thing? Kuina sat by the balcony every day, not going outside, just watching through the glass. She'd asked out loud if this was it. Perhaps there were no more games.

Maybe this…was it. 

They'd be trapped here. Forever. No more games. No going home. Just worried about the remaining people, wondering when they'd starve to death. That sounded like a game in itself. Hearts, naturally. She watched people down in the streets. She could see how antsy they were getting. She was too.

Chishiya told her not to worry. To relax. To focus all her energy into healing and let everything else fade away. It was hard, but he was right. She felt worlds better though. She could walk on her own now, though she mostly just crawled from her bed to look over the city and to eat. She only walked to the bathroom or to sit on the couch since those were the furthest distances. Everything else was right next to everything else. She was warned about fucking up her scabs. So far, she'd avoided that, and now they were itching and flaking off, and they didn't bleed anymore if she accidentally fucked one up. Which was good.

She started to see distant shapes on the horizon. In the air. She hadn’t thought about anything being in the sky anymore at all. Planes had too much technology in them. She’d really stopped looking up. When she sat on the balcony, her focus wasn’t the sky. It was the people down below. If her gaze went higher, it was up to the buildings. Looking for signs of games. Of life. Lights, shadows, movement. That was how she’d been able to see the horizon at all. She stood slowly, gripping the metal railing to brace herself. “What…is that?” She spoke mostly to herself, squinting and leaning over slightly. They were far off shapes and she was wondering if she was imagining them. “Shuntaro!”

“What? Why are you leaning over the balcony like that? I can’t help you if you fall from this high up.” Chishiya walked over with a sigh, placing a hand on her shoulder to pull her away from the edge. “Fine fine, but do you see that? Over there?”

Shapes on the horizon.

He stood beside her and crossed his arms over his chest, squinting just like her. She turned and watched for his reaction. “Okay, so I’m not insane.” She spoke before him, able to see the bewilderment wash over his face gradually. “I think that’s what’s next. Come on, let’s get ready.”

So they changed clothes, unable to stop themselves from checking in on the gradually approaching shapes. Had anyone else noticed yet? Kuina got ready much faster than Chishiya, who was shuffling around gathering things that she didn’t understand. So she returned to the balcony. One settled off in the distance while others continued to move. “King of Clubs.”

“What did you say?”

“One of them stopped. It’s far out. By the harbor. King of Clubs. They’re face cards. All of them. They’re settling over game venues.”

“Next Stage…Start.” He muttered in response, standing on the balcony with her too, looking in the complete opposite direction. He was looking out toward Shibuya Crossing. The screens were on. And that's what they said. “So we should go there?” Kuina reasoned, standing behind him, feeling a pit forming in her stomach. This place had always been terrible, but this gave her this new…sinking feeling. There was too much unknown. Too many variables.

“Yeah. Come on.”

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ♡ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Anti tank rifle.

“They didn't even explain the rules!” Kuina yelled out in annoyance for the second time. That much was true. It was almost like the signs came on at the crossing as a lure. A beacon. To get as many people in a big open area as possible to kill them. This game was perhaps the most straightforward one of all. 

Don't die.

They would just be running cover to cover, running, ducking, and hiding. Forever at this rate. “That's an assault rifle. There's an arsenal.” The group he was with turned to him, and all their faces fell at once. 

“We can't stay here.” 

Usagi nodded in agreement at Kuina's observation, setting them all out running again as the gunshots and screams got closer and closer. This wasn't his forte. The physical games. This had to be spades. There was no other option. Chishiya could feel his heart hammering in his chest, lungs and throat tightening as he ran. His muscles were burning and threatening to cramp. Not great for his image.

“Keep up!” Kuina yelled, taking his hand in hers and dragging him along. She was faster than him, so it truly felt like he was being dragged. There was so much chaos. Too loud. Too many people. People were being shot and trampling each other when they fell. There was still no sign of the shooter. That worried him the most.

They couldn't just run aimlessly.

That would cause more trouble eventually if they were unlucky and ran the wrong way. “We have to stop!” He yelled out to her, hoping she wasn't too focused to hear him. Partially because he needed to stop and partially because they needed to think. This running wouldn't work forever with no direction. “There!” 

Chishiya was surprised he didn't break anything when they dove for cover behind a car. “What? Can you breathe?” Kuina turned to him, drenched in sweat, red faced, breathing forcefully through her nose. He could only imagine how he looked. Good question. Could he breathe? He was heaving through his mouth. Thank goodness they didn't have to be quiet or they'd be fucked.

“...Yeah. Where's…the shooter?”

“You think there's only one?”

“Has to be an efficient shooter, but…definitely only…one. They'd- They'd be doing…way more damage if…there were…multiple.” He gasped out his words, leaning back against the car and looking at her, processing his words. “Got it. Why only one weapon at a time if there was more than one? I didn't see anyone. Which means we don't know where we're running. Not really.”

God. She was so smart. That meant the world to him. She meant the world to him. In general, but right now, it meant he could spend these few seconds catching his breath instead of explaining something he thought was common sense. He knew they only had seconds. Shibuya Crossing was a slaughterhouse, and no cover would be safe for long. They both rested their heads against the car because as long as he didn't hear that anti tank rifle again, he'd take the chance. “Look.” Kuina nodded up at the sky. Moving over towards them was another sign, like all the others. A face card. “Ah. The shooter must be the King of Spades.” He hummed with absolutely zero amusement.

“No shit.” Kuina didn’t even look at him, more focused on the fact that this sign was moving. Chishiya reached into his pocket and elbowed her gently.

“Hey. Take this.”

“The thing you were working on.” Kuina took the dull orange can in hand as Chishiya lazily held it out to her. “What is it?”

“It's a good luck charm. Use it when you're in a bind.”

“What about you?”

“You're my good luck charm.” He responded without hesitation, looking over at her. She glared back, a frown on her face. Of course, she'd frown now of all times when she was usually the positive one. “Fuck off Shuntaro.”

“Kidding.” He pulled out another from his pocket, shaking it slightly. “Consider them the same as our friendship bracelets.” That made her smile. 

A smile that quickly faded at the impending sound of doom.

Or not.

Ann. 

Ann didn't seem too fond of him at the Beach, and he didn't care about her one way or another, but he was glad to see her. Very glad. 

He was not glad to see a grenade fall at his feet. “Hm. That's bad. Drive!”

“Chishiya! Chishiya!”

He could hear Kuina calling out for him, screaming at the top of her lungs as he ran the complete opposite direction and dove behind a car to avoid the grenade. He didn’t even look back to see her. Partially because he couldn't and partially because he didn’t need to. She was okay. She was in the car. She was safe. She'd stay that way. They always played games separately. He crawled from behind the car into the closest building, hearing the gunshots grow more distant. He sat up quickly and winced as a stray piece of glass cut straight across his palm. Blood soaked into one side of his friendship bracelet. “Are you kidding me?” All this time, he'd gone largely uninjured in this world. Now he had a gash across his hand.

Hell, maybe Kuina was his good luck charm. 

And now he was alone.

Chishiya just fucking hoped he wasn't hers.

Chapter Text

Kuina wasn't exactly happy to set out alone after defeating the King of Clubs and his team, but she was happy that she'd have the opportunity to search on her own now. 

She still hoped Niragi would die a thousand painful deaths, and she probably should've engaged in friendly fire during the last game. She didn't want to go with Arisu and Usagi either. She wished them all the luck, but she wouldn't ask for their help in her search, nor would she postpone it for them.

She was looking for Chishiya.

She didn't think he'd go home. 

These new games offered no respite. They were demanding. Challenging. Long . If she knew him, which she liked to believe she did, he was probably playing hearts or diamonds. Games she wasn't keen to join and games she knew she should avoid in case they demanded a sole winner. She didn't want to see him in these games. 

But she did slink around outside of one, surveying survivors. Jack of Diamonds. No such luck. She had to play for herself or she wouldn't be doing anything when her visa ran out.

Jack. Queen. King.

Jack shouldn't be…too bad. Or rather, it would be the best of the worst. So she walked around, looking straight up, trying to find a jack in the sky. 

“Jack of Spades. …That works.”

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ♤ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

It was a dojo hall.

Huh.

This didn't bring back fond memories.

That was her first thought about the venue. It gave her unpleasant memories. The next thought she had was that it was full . This was possibly the most crowded game she'd ever seen. It was packed full of players. This was probably one of the few games that had a high player limit. Meaning anyone who'd already been closed out of other nearby games had to come here.

She kept to herself, knowing Chishiya wouldn't be here. He hated spades.

She looked around for the phones and the screen with rules, listening for the polite robotic woman's voice overhead before shaking her head. No. She had to empty her head. Clear that mindset. The old mindset. She'd seen the King of Spades. How he just appeared. No announcement. No rules. No formal start.

If she kept the original game structure in her mind, she'd trip herself up. Those rules didn't work anymore. There was only one rule now. Survive. That was the rule she'd keep in her head. Nothing else.

Eventually, the last few people filed in and the doors to the outside locked. She knew because everyone turned to look at the doors as people on the outside tugged on them, trying to get into the game to no avail.

Tough luck.

Or good luck.

She was about to find out.

The crowd stood around, talking nervously, nowhere near as loud as a group of people this large should be. She estimated somewhere over forty players present, but she didn't want to count. She felt like it would make her nerves worse. 

“Excuse me!”

A man's voice echoed through the hall. He emerged from the bathroom area, hands above his head like a singer entering a concert. The voices all died down. “Wow! …Obedient crowd. Cool. Nice to see you all! I'm the Jack of Spades! Welcome to my game!” The man was a little above average height, short haircut that was styled kind of like a businessman. Businessman. She didn't think too much about what people did out there. In the real world. She wondered if the Jack of Spades really had been a businessman. Bored of life, working to no real end, exhausted. Maybe that's why he stayed and became a citizen.

He didn't want to go back to that.

He was also extremely fit. 

Lots of functional, lean muscle displayed by his compression shirt. He wore leggings with clearly no fear of showing off his shape. At least he wasn't naked. She'd take this instead. “So, I'm sure you're all anxious to get started. Let me tell you the rules.” He was very high energy and spoke politely, clasping his hands together, smiling as he paced. 

Polite.

The other one had been polite too. 

The King of Clubs.

Were all these people like this? Unnerving and eerily polite? Why not? Games had become their reality. These gamemakers were different. “This game is called King of the Hill. It's actually a children's game, but I'm not here to make things hard for you. I just want everyone to play their hardest!”

The audience murmured, but no one moved or spoke over him, letting him explain. He seemed to enjoy that. His captive audience. He gesticulated, walked around in circles, smiled and laughed, all while he explained his game.

“So, very simple. That, is our hill.” He turned and pointed all the way to the far end of the hall. “We'll all start on the opposite end over there and have to run to the hill. The first person to arrive there gets to be king! Congratulations! Once a king has been selected, everyone else will return to the start and try to get rid of the king. By get rid of, I mean kill. And anyone else who wants to steal your throne is fair game. King can't leave the throne to defend though. Sorry. Whoever claims the spot restarts it again and again. New king after new king. Fun right?”

No. Not fun.

Exhaustion. That was Kuina's first thought. This game sounded tiring. Deeply tiring. All the running. The next thing she considered was being trampled. There were so many people here. All rushing to one small area. Being crushed was a real possibility. The game would be chaos. Running, pushing, shoving, hitting. She could only imagine.

“Excuse me?” A man from the crowd called out.

“Yes! The handsome gentleman in the green shirt! Question?”

“What's the time limit for this game?”

“Ah! Sorry I forgot. Thank you for reminding me! No time limit! It ends when there's only one king! But there will be a little countdown when we're all gathered at the starting area each time.”

God.

Everyone in this room had to die except one for the game to end. That brought back her fear of exhaustion even more. The game ended when it was impossible to continue. And the Jack of Spades didn't spark her as the type to fear death. He was an adrenaline junkie. She could tell.  “Also, there are weapons hidden all throughout the hall. You can go anywhere you like since the hall is locked down. You can even search during rounds. Feel free to find and use them! It's going to be an exciting game! Any other questions?”

Yeah, just one. Why the hell did the spades games seem like such bullshit? She'd seen the King. Lots of people had. She'd just met the Jack. Also a nightmare. She could only wonder about the Queen. She'd probably pass on that. If she didn't die here first.

“No? Welp! Let's get going! Everyone to the opposite end of the hall please!” The Jack took off into a light jog while others turned and shuffled in confusion. Some clearly didn't get that the citizens played too. These people were different. Truly insane. Of course they'd partake in their own games.

Kuina shuffled back towards the starting area, looking around the massive dojo hall. It was nice. Big. Weapons could be anywhere. She had a feeling they'd all be melee weapons though. Just a hunch based on her impressions of the gamemaker. She couldn't play this game. Not like he explained it.

There were too many people.

Too much effort. Effort that she couldn't afford to use up all at once. This game could go on for hours or minutes.

So when the countdown started, she took off, in the opposite direction, checking over her shoulder to make sure no one noticed her. It seemed not. So she went to the bathroom. And found a knife. Just a little pocket knife, but hey. She wasn't sure if it was the only weapon in the room, but she figured she'd take the time to check. The sound of running outside was like thunder. A stampede. She pursed her lips and nodded, hearing a few screams already. Trampling if she had to guess.

Chishiya wasn't good at spades games. 

It was just a fact. But he survived them by playing to his strengths. The mind. Strategy. Planning. She didn't have to beat the game the way the maker imagined. She just…had to beat it. Just like her first game. That wasn't how diamonds were played. So what? She didn’t break any rules and she won. No shame in winning. Not when the alternative was death.

So she hid. 

Saving her strength and energy.

Round after round. Listening carefully, killing anyone who came into the bathroom. Listening to the screams. Listening to when it became apparent other weapons had been found. Listening to the thuds of fighting and falling. Taking it all in. Waiting for the sound of footsteps to get lighter. The other issue was that she had to leave the bathroom every single round otherwise the countdown wouldn't start.

Clever caveat. It meant no one could hide forever. It meant she had to time exactly when to leave when there was still enough chaos between rounds to avoid drawing attention to herself.

But the game pressed on, and the floor became harder and harder to run on with all the bodies on the ground, but no one dared to stop to move them. It got to a point where the king remained the same. One long round.

The Jack of Spades. 

He stood in his designated area, killing anyone who dared to try for his crown. And seemed to be having fun doing it. How was she supposed to kill this fucker? 

The numbers counted down. From twenty-five to twenty to fifteen until there were seven of them. And the Jack. Kuina had stopped hiding. The remaining people didn't seem very level headed initially, but they were clearly tired of this seemingly endless game. “We should team up to kill him.” A woman with a pixie cut suggested as they finally all seemed to feel like they were hitting a wall. 

“Team up?” A man with glasses scoffed and rolled his eyes at the thought. “This isn't a clubs game lady. It's every man for himself.”

“So fucking what asshole? You think you're gonna be the last man standing to face off with that psycho?” A burly man with a sleeve of tattoos grumbled. “She has a good point. He's hard to kill. If we kill him together, the game would be more fair. Hey. What do you think?” The man turned to Kuina.

It was a decent idea. Though she hated the thought of working together with people she'd have to kill later. She also hated the idea of going head to head with the Jack, who was largely uninjured. Much like herself. Had he been hiding too? Or was he just that good? “It's worth a shot. We have to change the tempo of the game. It's been going the same way for too long. Unless someone is particularly confident they can kill him on their own. Then by all means, do it.  You should have no problem taking down the rest of us either then.” 

That last snippy addition from Kuina was enough for the other six people to falter before agreeing. “Right. So we shouldn't focus on attacking each other anymore. Not until the Jack is dead.” The woman reasoned, and everyone agreed.

It was a…better idea to be sure. They didn't have to run towards the hill. They walked. They whispered ideas to each other. The Jack raised his hands above his head, knife in hand, laughing in shock. “Oh! Playing my game like it's clubs? Interesting choice. You know you'll have to kill each other eventually right? Can you trust each other right now? I mean, think of how many people each of you has killed to be here in the top ten! You're some dangerous people!”

“Playing your game like it's hearts? Let us decide for ourselves how to win.” Kuina called out, which caught his attention instantly. He frowned slightly, looking her up and down, shrugging. “...True enough. You look great. How many people have you killed? Not many, I bet. At least not in this game.”

“Just play the game.”

He really was that good. Even with just a knife and being confined to the circle, he was good. He went for lethal shots for the most part, seeking to scare them. When seven went down to three from repeated stabs to the neck, they got the picture.

Not to say they hadn't done damage. He was cut up, beaten, and bleeding finally. Which was good. But he was not on the verge of collapse. Not yet. He was clearly feeling his injuries.

“This is your fault. Why the hell did you two plan this!?” The man with glasses screeched, brandishing his hammer at the two of them. “Don't lose focus now. He's injured. We can-” Kuina was cut off by the large tattooed man yelling back at him. “Our fault? You fight him yourself then! Huh? Since you're so brave!”

They fought.

They both died. While Kuina stepped all the way away and watched. Idiots. Lucky for her. “So…just you and me. What's your plan?” She turned to the Jack and glared, not particularly interested in conversation. Kuina walked back around to stand directly across from him. In the middle of the hall. It felt like they were worlds away from each other. He was trapped. And so was she. 

“Honestly?”

He raised his brows and shrugged, clearly interested in what she had to say. He pushed hair off of his forehead, smearing blood across his skin and into his hair from one of his fresh wounds. “Do tell.”

“No fucking clue.”

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ◇ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Kuina began to laugh. And the Jack of Spades joined in. She really didn't know. She had ideas bouncing around in her head, but they were all too abstract to grasp or too shitty to waste time on. So they laughed together, voices echoing in the empty hall. The laughter was tired, deranged, and unhinged. 

“I love the honesty. Not many people are honest. Out there or in here. I hate liars. I hated hearts games when I played. That's why I do spades. It's…honest.”

“Oh? ...How so?” Kuina put her hands in her front pockets, shifting her weight. She took a few steps closer, but she made sure to avoid getting too close. He could always leave the circle to kill her if it became more convenient than waiting. If she was far enough away and he tried to approach, they could easily kill each other before either of them could enter the circle. He cracked his fingers and his neck and groaned. “It’s all physical. The body is honest. Your blood rushes for a reason. You sweat for a reason. Your pupils dilate for a reason. It’s not dishonest like the mind or the heart. It just is . I like that.”

“I guess that makes sense. What did you do before this?”

“I was a salaryman. I had a pretty good pay, but you know how that work is. Or maybe you don't. You don't exactly look like an office lady.”

So he was an actual businessman.

“I'm not. How'd you get so fit? If you were a salaryman.”

“It was my only outlet. I decided not to pick alcohol. What did you do before?” 

Neither one of them relaxed or sat or lowered their guard even as they partook in a pretty normal conversation. The air was heavy. Everything was uneasy. She appreciated the dull conversation though. Gave her time to think.

“I worked at a clothing store. Somewhere near here actually.”

“That makes sense. It's so dishonest. Office work, I mean. When I came to this land, I felt so much freedom. To feel, to speak, to think for myself. I wanted to encourage others to do the same. It's how I made my game. Players should rely on themselves. And be honest. That man in the glasses knew he could never take me alone, but would rather lie and complain about teamwork.”

“He was an idiot.” Kuina simply reasoned.

“Lies make us stupid.” The Jack quickly retorted.

“So does the truth.”

Her original concern with the game became her solution.

Exhaustion.

She charged at him without warning. Straight to him, cutting his arm as his first instinct was to block. Then she backed away just as quickly. Back and forth. Back and forth. He was fast, but she could tell she was faster. And a bit smaller, which helped her avoid being grabbed. She could handle a cut or two as long as he didn't grab her.

He finally showed real annoyance when she knocked his weapon out of his hand and it went flying. 

“Are you planning on buzzing around me like a little fly forever?”

She approached from behind this time, slashing the blade clean across his back. It cut his shirt open, creating a line of crimson along his back. Then she rushed away again. 

“Why don't you come get me then?”

“Nice try.” His breathing was growing heavy, and the cuts all over his body began to bleed more profusely. She knew exactly how he was feeling. “Why'd you make your game like this? To the last man standing?”

“Because whoever wins is honest with themselves. You didn't run even half of these rounds. You listened to your body. Understood it. Now you're here.”

“I actually listened to my mind,” Kuina said as she plunged her blade into his thigh. “If you pull that out, you're dead. But I'm sure you know that. So what's your plan?”

The Jack looked down at his leg, poking the handle of the knife with a pinky. “...Why do you think people lie?”

Kuina was taken aback by the question. She'd spent a lot of her life lying. About who she was. To herself. To others. To people she loved. To people she didn't even care about. Sometimes it was easy. Sometimes it was hard. Impossible, even. Sometimes it happened without a single thought behind it. 

“...Lots of reasons. Bad and good. Sometimes people don't even know they're lying. But…I think…we lie for comfort. Most of the time. Other people's comfort. Our own. Something like that.”

He looked her over inquisitively and nodded slowly. Then he gripped the handle of the knife and snatched out the blade, flinging it across the room. “I wish everyone could be more honest. But you may have a point. Liars have their place too. I think I was lying to myself by saying they didn't. Congratulations on your coronation, Your Majesty.” He stepped out of the circle and began to walk across the room, blood pouring from his leg. 

“...What? What are you doing?”

“Honestly?”

“Yes.” She watched him in suspicion, crouching down to pick up a stray blade from the floor. She stepped into the circle and stood, watching the man shuffle across the floor before sitting down slowly beside a dead body. “You made me realise I was being dishonest. I'm ready to leave this land. I felt free at first, but…now it's just more work. You know?”

“I guess I get th-” Kuina was cut off by the sound of all the doors unlocking all at once. A loud, echoing click.

“Game Cleared. …Congratulations.” She murmured to herself, letting the knife she'd just picked up clatter to the ground. She stumbled out of the building as fast as she could, avoiding tripping over bodies, stopping to snag the card. It would suck to win the game and then be crushed by a falling aircraft. She didn't care about the cards anymore. They just reminded her of him.

“These face cards are no joke.” Kuina spoke to her reflection, cleaning herself up, wishing Chishiya was here to do it for her. She was in the hospital. After her game, she wanted to rest. And instead of returning home, she went to the hospital. Just like she had when she first arrived. Her mother's bed was still empty, of course. But that didn't stop her from climbing into it and curling up along the side of it, leaving space as if her mother were still there. She didn't know what would happen when the games ended. Even if she survived them all. Would there be a way back to the real world? Or was citizenship mandatory for the victors?

Kuina slept in the hospital that night.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ♧   ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

“You have no idea how glad I am to see you again.” Kuina said to Ann as they left the Queen of Clubs game together, side by side. “Likewise. I mean, you did just help me win that game. What have you played?”

“Jack of Spades, King of Clubs. You?”

“Just King of Hearts, which was plenty. And I've been trying to figure out what this place is. No luck. What have you been doing?”

“Looking for Chishiya.”

“Your shadow. …I'm sorry. No luck finding him?” 

“Mm. Mm. He's probably playing.”

“You'll see him again. I may not like him very much, but…he's good to you, so I hope you see him soon.”

Kuina wished Ann had been correct. Instead, she didn't get to see Chishiya again. Not with her own eyes. She just eagerly believed Arisu and Usagi when they said he was alright. And she took that thought with her as she laid, dying, with Ann.

Promising to be her friend in another life.

Another life.

Kuina hoped that she'd find Chishiya again in another life too. And make bracelets for him. Play with his hair. Maybe she could even kiss him. On the cheek at least. She wanted him to meet her mom. Her mother would find him odd for Kuina. But she'd like him. They could have their own apartment. Somewhere nicer than her apartment. And they could invite people over. Friends. Like Ann. Usagi. Arisu. 

Kuina imagined another life for herself all the way down until the game ended.

Then it was over.

Chapter Text

For once, Chishiya wasn't particularly motivated to play any games. He wanted to rest. In general. But he could tell that others around had similar ideas. Lasers still went off in the skies. There were still visas. People who were tired of playing. He couldn't let that be him. It was a little unfair wasn't it? They'd flipped everything on its head, but there were still visas? How bothersome.

He knew Kuina wouldn't go home. Because he wouldn't go home. He didn't want to play but knew he had to. This was the final stretch. There was a lot to learn. Perhaps this was the time to get the answers to…everything he'd been asking. He wished he knew where Kuina was. She was probably playing spades. He hoped she didn't get too banged up. He wouldn't be there to patch her up now. She seemed so prone to injury. That woman was insane.

He found himself distracted by that. Her. If he could only know where she was, he'd have some peace of mind. That was a lie. He'd then just worry about her playing instead. Still, he was able to conceal his inner turmoil through the hearts game he partook in. He found it…fine. As fine as a hearts game could be. He was more irritated than anything. He felt himself…shrinking?

Returning to the way he used to be? Used to feel? Hollow. Isolated. All about efficiency. It was how he acted when he first arrived and in the real world. It was easy. He shuffled along through the empty streets, looking for a place to rest for a bit until a new game. He thought of doing diamonds next. Kuina didn’t like diamonds. She was plenty smart for them. She just found the nature of them convoluted and annoying. He settled on a closed convenience store, sign on the sliding doors about the owner being ill that day. Hm. This person was lucky to have been sick. Maybe they would've ended up here if they didn't stay home.

It was just like when he first arrived. He crawled behind the counter and slept there, out of sight, safe enough. It wasn't as uncomfortably comfy as sleeping in the pharmacy. It was certainly not as comfortable as sleeping beside Kuina. He had a hard time sleeping. He missed the sound of her snoring. He found that he spent his night worrying about her wellbeing until he fell asleep due to exhaustion. No matter how hard he tried to sleep, another thought would appear. He couldn't believe he cared so much.

When they'd first met, he thought they'd be too different. That they'd cohabitate and nothing more. But she was just so magnetic. She got along with most people. Even him. He didn't know if he'd have been her friend before. But when he thought about it, he figured he wouldn't have run into her at all. He'd have never seen her. Then he thought a little harder.

Her mother was in the hospital. She said she visited her mother often. True, Chishiya was usually on an entirely different side of the hospital, but he wondered if he'd seen her. While he was going to work. Leaving work. Stepping out of the building to take a breath. If they'd passed each other countless times and been completely clueless. That thought drove him mad. Had they? Had he laid his eyes on Kuina time and again before all this with nothing more than a passing glance? Like she wasn't special? It was ridiculous how frequently people could pass by without knowing. Without noticing. Luck was an odd thing. Pure luck that they'd been so close, with such overlap, only to never meet in the real world.

That was one of his last thoughts before he fell asleep from exhaustion.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆♡ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Chishiya went ahead with his plan to wake up early, reconfigure, and start looking for a game. Sure, the games ran constantly now unlike before, but he wasn't worried about missing out to rest. These games were hard. Simply put. That, combined with the fact that at least a few of them had to have a certain number of players made him sure that he would be able to find a game even if he rested.

He didn't think every round of players in a game would win. Some games would have to reset. That logic made him comfortable with taking a break. With sleeping and waking up to eat whatever scraps were left in the convenience store. It had been picked over, but he expected that. He sat on the floor behind the counter, eating away at empty calories, hoping to just stack enough of them to have some type of energy for playing.

Chishiya dragged himself out of the back of the store once he'd finished eating, leaving the door propped open for his return or…for anyone else if he didn't make it or changed his mind about coming back. He stepped into the back alley and paused immediately at the sight of a person against the wall directly in front of him. A body? He stared for longer. Not a body. Alive. Breathing. He shuffled over to the person and crouched, seeing the issue. Issues. Injured leg, the ankle looked broken, stab wound to the abdomen or maybe a cut, bruising on the arms. “Hey. Are you still alive?”

Why did he care?

The person had short brown hair and a tilt of the head revealed a woman. Woman? She looked kind of young. Maybe a girl? Teenager perhaps. She had a cut across her cheek too. “Yeah.” It really wasn't his business if she was or not. But the sensibilities of his career took over and he readjusted his jacket to make it more comfortable before reaching out, assessing the wounds. “Hey. I'm Chishiya. What's your name?” She looked rough, he could only imagine the pain she was in.

“...Hana.”

“Hana. Hana What?”

“Ito.”

“Nice to meet you Miss Ito. Can you help me?” He liked calling his patients by their last names even though they were children. They always seemed to like it. He didn't know why he was taking the time to help her. She'd probably die anyway. He thought that repeatedly as he helped her back inside, behind the counter, out of sight.

He checked her over and his nerves calmed. Probably because it was something he knew how to do. Like being at work. Run through the checklist. “How old are you?” He asked her questions to distract as he looked her over. Blue fingernail beds. Blue lips. Just a tinge, but it would get worse. He looked at the abdominal injury and sighed, pursing his lips. “I'm turning seventeen soon. Like next month.”

Yeah.

“What do you wanna work as?”

“I don't know. Maybe a teacher? Or an artist. An art teacher? Working with kids is hard.”

“I agree. I'm a pediatrician in the real world. So you stopped at the right place.” He walked off to the break room, taking clothes from the back and wrapping the girl in them. “Do you like it? Being a doctor?”

“Yeah. It's not easy, but uh…yeah.”

“I'm gonna die huh?” She spoke so plainly, but Chishiya could only wonder how many people she'd seen die to make it this far. No child should witness such harsh horrors, in this world or the real world. It wasn't fair to them. He looked at her, flat on her back and was impressed by how casual she seemed about it. “Your lung seems to be collapsing. Are you having a hard time breathing?”

“I got stabbed in my side.”

“Yeah…I'm sorry.”

“Thanks for being nice.”

Nice. He could've walked right past her. Breathing hard in the alleyway, trying to stay upright. Doing this for her didn't change anything. Soon enough, she'd die. But he didn't feel like he was wasting his time doing this for her. People could survive for days or hours with a collapsed lung. He had no way of knowing how much longer she truly had. Still, he guessed maybe a few hours. If that. And regardless, she was still a person. A child no less. It was fair to let her try to die comfortably. With dignity.

“I have to go play now. I'll close the door so it locks. I doubt anyone will find you back here. I'll…come back after my game if I can.” She'd be dead by then or maybe breathing her very last, but knowing someone was worried for her could be comforting. Hana nodded and began to settle into her last position. “Good luck, Doc. Play well.”

“Thanks.” Then he set out and walked around with nothing but what he had in his pockets. He also came to realize how quiet everything was. He could only imagine how many people had died or were dying with these new games. He was quieter too. Now that he was alone again, he said absolutely nothing in his own company. He didn't even think about how silent he'd be if he was alone again. He hadn't planned on being alone again.

Chishiya wondered how many people were in a similar situation to him. To have made it this far in this world, he figured most people weren't very open or kind or forgiving. Not the people who remained. Even still, he wondered how many people had met someone here and formed a new connection so nice they wished they'd met the person in the real world too. How many people were like him? Chishiya seemed very icy and in this world, he was, but he often thought about how he'd feel if he were a different person or how he could relate to people.

How many people had lost the person they'd met here?

One of his key motivators was finding Kuina again. He didn't believe she was dead. Not for a second. She was too tough for that. He just needed to do his part in taking down these face cards and find her. If he could end the game-

What happens when the game ends?

He hadn't thought about what the end would actually mean. He'd only been thinking of how to get there. Now the end seemed very close and he found himself wondering…what happens. Did everyone return to the real world? Would they be where they'd been when this started? Did this world shift into something safe for them? Did it just reset? Was it a never ending loop? Did…would he remember this?

If the end meant a return to the real world, would he remember this? Would he remember her? Would she remember him?

He couldn't think about that now. None of it would matter if he lost this next game.

The King of Diamonds.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆♤ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Chishiya found this game a little…convoluted.

Well, it made sense. Once the rules were understood and all, but he felt like…it was deeply thought out. Maybe too much so. He found the players to become too confident too quickly. There was acid over his head. He'd be a liar if he didn't admit that he was sweating just a bit. He was never going to show that, but he could feel the pressure. It wouldn't be a fast or painless way to go. That was all he could ask for in this world. If he had to lose a game eventually, could it not be in the form of being melted alive by acid?

Was that too much to ask?

Perhaps…not. As the game carried on and he was still alive, he figured perhaps not. He'd been doing a lot of thinking as he tried to figure out how to win this and how to tune out the smell of melting human flesh. Both seemed to be tasks that were impossible to completely succeed in. Something did finally hit him as three of them remained and he listened to this game's architect go on about fairness.

“It's fair to you.”

“What?” Kuzuryu paused and scoffed in shock, pushing up his glasses before glaring at Chishiya in disbelief. He seemed astounded that after all his explaining, he'd get such a short, dismissive response.

“...What?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“What I said.”

The next round went past. Just the two of them. “Why'd you say that last round?”

They technically had all the time in the world. Until they starved. Why rush the end? Chishiya shrugged and looked at the melted bodies around the table. “I mean this game isn't based on much other than luck and yet you went so far with your planning to make it fair. Is it fair?”

“All players are equal.”

“I guess. If you make it luck based then someone who didn't understand the instructions and can't do math could play well against someone like you. Still that means that this game becomes a bit overdramatic doesn't it? We could've drawn straws or unseen items from a bag.”

Kuzuryu had his mouth open slightly in surprise, shaking his head in almost involuntary disagreement. “I felt like it was my duty to make something both intriguing and fair. A logic based game. Not much in life is fair.”

“I agree with that. I guess. But…is chance or luck…fair? If you believe in a higher power then the world has favorites so luck isn't fair either. Would your game be more fair if it was purely skill based? I mean is anything fair?” Chishiya could tell that his philosophical musings were intriguing and deeply aggravating to the man across from him.

“You've always been something…unique. Even at the Beach. Your seemingly nonsensical nature is what Hatter liked. …Where's Kuina? Kuina, right?”

“I assume she's playing like everyone else.”

“You assume? You don't know? I know she's important to you. She's charming. Certainly more pleasant than you.”

“Yeah well life's a popularity contest. She's definitely got a leg up.” He didn't know if this was some sort of manipulation tactic to trip him up or if the King himself just wanted to know what kind of person would ask such questions.

"Do you think that's important? Being liked?"

Chishiya squinted as he pondered the question. Not really. He didn't care all too much about being liked, universally or otherwise. "No. I mean, there's someone for everyone eventually. Even people that it seems like no one should like end up having someone."

"That's a profound way of looking at it. What did you do before this?"

"I was a doctor."

Kuzuryu nodded and laughed ever so slightly. "That's why you're so jaded. I'm sure you don't believe in fairness."

"You're right. I don't. I see it all the time and so do you."

"What about value? Do different people have more value? If you have nothing to say for fairness. People have to put their lives in your hands all the time. Does that make a life more or less valuable?"

Why so many ethics discussions? Chishiya leaned back in his seat and sighed. "I don't know. But it would be a lie to say societies don't value some people more than others. I guess the people with the power are the ones who decide the value. Whether or not that's right goes back to your questions about fairness."

Kuzuryu sat in silence after that, staring at his tablet. He seemed to be absorbing and carefully thinking over what Chishiya had said. Then, after a few minutes, he nodded and sat up straighter.

"Thank you for your insight. Shall we?"

So they were just going to casually return to the game after that? Like their discussion was nothing? Chishiya couldn't even tell what his opponent had garnered from their conversation. If anything. Perhaps it had just been a bit of stalling before the final countdown.

It was then Chishiya realised that…their talk wouldn't guarantee his life. Nothing would. There was nothing in this world that could save him. Not wits or logic or charm. He glanced at his friendship bracelet, feeling the urge to apologise to Kuina. This was the end of the road. He couldn't know if he'd see her again. Or make it out of this game. He wished he cared less. His thoughts kept dragging their way back to her. To hell with this game.

“I'm choosing 100 then. Here's my life, teetering on the edge of death. You have the power. I'll just leave it up to you to decide whether my life has value or not.”

And…Chishiya was…not melted by acid.

He had no clue what would happen. That hadn't been a strategy or a manipulation tactic on his end. It had been a surrender. There wasn't a game left to play at that point as far as he was concerned. He'd been fully prepared to be dissolved. There was something…he couldn't quite place about knowing his opponent decided to place value into his life. It had him feeling weirdly grateful.

Chishiya stood from his chair, still facing Kuzuryu. He tucked his hands in his jacket pockets and bowed deeply.

“Thanks for believing in the value of my life. I'll try to live it well.”

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆◇ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Then he got shot.

Maybe Kuzuryu should've let him melt. What a waste of his sacrifice.

At least he was shot for trying to do something noble. Heroic. Out of character.

Now he'd die here. Against a car, in the abandoned city. Bleeding out. Listening to distant sounds of gunfire. Alone.

Alone.

That was the real kicker.

All he'd done to survive so many games and extreme scenarios and he was going to die right here, right now. Alone. Eventually. He was sorry he didn't make it back to Kuina. He had a feeling she was still okay. Or maybe it was just him wanting to go out with some peace of mind. Even if it was fabricated.

Speaking of fabricated, he decided to take the spare time that came with the slow death that was bleeding out, to fabricate a different life for himself.

One where he saw his parents more. Was a bit more open with his feelings. As open as someone like him could be. A life where he was still a doctor, but didn't live and die by it. Where he made time for himself. And others. A life where he knew Kuina. He used to think people weren't truly capable of worthwhile change. Now he knew that was untrue. He'd changed.

Chishiya imagined another life for himself all the way down until the game ended.

Then it was over.

Chapter Text

Kuina felt pretty rough, but she'd also felt worse. She looked around slowly and immediately recognised that she was in the hospital. She'd been enough times to know it in under thirty seconds. She sat up slowly and looked down at her hands. She had on a hospital bracelet…meaning she was the patient. That wasn't as common for her. She felt like she'd just woken up from the longest dream. A dream she couldn't remember at all.

She could sort of pinpoint how it made her feel. Unsettled. Sad. Filled with longing. Anxious. Loved. Melancholic. Overjoyed.

It was weird. She felt weird. So she called the nurse.

Calling the nurse ended up being beyond the right course of action. She was able to be filled in on everything and found it so insane that she simply elected to process it at a later date. The best outcome of all was that she was given permission to walk around a bit. Thank God. She didn't know how her mother managed to put on such a brave face while being stuck in a hospital bed. Kuina had just woken up and felt the need to go. So she went. The halls were filled with so many more people than usual. All survivors of the incident, she assumed. She wondered if it was weird for people who were long term patients. She could only imagine how hard it was on all the staff. They seemed to be holding up as well as they could. Or maybe they were just putting on brave faces too.

She stood at the entrance to an outside area, looking at all the people and sometimes focusing in on her reflection. Her bandaged body. Arms and legs. She had stitches on her neck and scarring on her face. The nurse said it was anyone's guess how she'd gotten so cut up. Glass from nearby buildings was the most likely answer.

"Excuse me. Can you get that door for me? Since you're not doing anything else."

Kuina turned around, jumping slightly at the sound of a man. Behind her was a man headed in the same direction as her, but in a wheelchair. She'd been so lost in her own reflection that she hadn't even noticed she was half blocking the door. In her defense, there was another one. "Oh. Yeah sure. Sorry." She grabbed the door and held it open for him, following after. "Are you here because of the…" He asked pushing his wheelchair slowly. Clearly it was taking a lot of effort for him to move it. Maybe it was too heavy for him. "The meteor? Yeah. Insane right?"

Kuina fell into step with the man, strolling alongside him as he pushed himself. She hadn't even realised that she was doing it. Following him. She didn't have any intentions of going outside originally. She just figured she wasn't doing anything else. Just like he said.

"Yeah. I can't wait to be discharged and I just woke up." He sighed and stopped suddenly, breathing heavily. Kuina stopped beside him, looking down at the sweat beading on his forehead and lifting a hand slightly, feeling an urge to wipe his forehead before stopping. Her fingers tensed and locked up as she stopped herself before putting her hand back down quickly. Why...did she do that?

"We're on the same page. I'm already here all the time anyway. My uh…my mom is sick."

The man glanced over at her and squinted. She couldn't decipher his thoughts just from how he was looking at her. Pity because of her mother or something else? He seemed to be examining her injuries, her scars. He looked a little concerned. "Sorry to hear that. I actually work here. So I'm here all the time too. Just not here in this section of the hospital. I'm in pediatric surgery. Seems like they just put all the survivors in this unit though."

Hm. A doctor? With that hair? He looked…not great, life threatening injuries aside. She'd keep her comments to herself though. She wouldn't exactly be one to commentate on hair. He seemed to catch her expression anyway and chuckled. "The kids like my hair. We get more freedom in pediatrics. So…" He grunted as he began to push his chair, clearly trying to walk and talk. Kuina followed alongside him, walking slowly and noting how their pace got slower and slower. He was severely struggling.

Again, she wanted to reach out. Then she froze, stumbling and stopping suddenly. "Do you…need help?"

The man looked over his shoulder, noticing she'd stopped, gaze drifting to her slightly lifted hands. "What? Oh the chair. …If you…don't mind."

"No problem. We can sit over there." We. She'd just met this guy ten seconds ago. And yet there was a we. She didn't have anyone else to talk to. Her nurse said that her parents had left an hour or so before she woke up and probably wouldn't be back for a little while. So it was her and the stranger.

Stranger.

How rude of her.

"I'm so sorry. I'm Kuina Hikari."

He didn't seem upset that it had taken her this long to introduce herself. He'd taken just as long.

"Chishiya Shuntaro."

"A doctor named Shuntaro? A little on the nose isn't it?" She laughed as she stopped at an empty table among all the patients relaxing with other patients or visitors. The man, Chishiya, laughed alongside her and shrugged. "Fair enough. Appreciate the honesty."

"You know…" Kuina started, feeling that odd, oppressive blend of emotions she'd felt when she woke up.

"Hm?" She seemed to have Chishiya's full attention.

"Did you feel weird when you woke up? Like when you can't remember a dream? Or maybe it was just me."

"I get what you mean."

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆♧ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

"You have your own room?" Chishiya wasn't usually this sociable, but he felt like he might as well put himself out there considering he almost died. So he sat across from a woman he'd just met at the hospital and tried getting to know her. He was currently offended to learn that she had her own room while he didn't. "Yeah. Or at least I think so. There wasn't anyone else in my room when I woke up."

"My roommate is kind of annoying. Thankfully he doesn't do a lot of talking right now. I hope I can get out of here before he starts feeling well enough to talk more. He's a bit of a jerk." Kuina scoffed at him as if she was skeptical, not of his roommate's demeanor, but about if Chishiya was truly suffering as much as he claimed. He wasn't much of a talker himself, never had been, and yet he found that she was…easy to talk to.

Maybe that said more about her than it did about him though.

"Hey, do you get-" Chishiya stopped mid sentence when a sheet of paper snagged under the wheel of his chair, rustling loudly in the persistent breeze. Chishiya frowned, leaned down, and grabbed the piece of paper. It was a pencil drawing of the scene outside. Pretty detailed. People playing cards, walking slowly, he could even see the hazy outline of what he was sure was him and his companion at their table. It was signed at the bottom. "What's that?" Kuina put her hands on the table and leaned forward. He held the paper up to her and she nodded in appreciation. "That's pretty good. Is that us?" A teenage girl came over slowly, bowing in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. That's mine." Chishiya turned towards the girl standing in front of their table, wringing her hands together, face slightly red.

"No problem. You're a good artist, Miss…Ito." He squinted at the signature on the page. It read, 'Ito Hana'. He liked calling children by their last names. They seemed to like it. Maybe because it made them feel more grown up. The smile on the girl's face was further proof of that running theory. She bowed again, beaming, and took her drawing. "Thank you. Sorry again!"

"Do I get what?" Kuina asked, still leaning forward against the table.

"What?"

"You were asking me something. Do I get what?"

"Do you…I'm not really the type of person for this, but maybe it's because I almost died. Do you get this…feeling like you've changed a lot? I've been thinking so much. I feel different. But this place feels familiar somehow. Maybe it's because we all went through the same traumatic event. I just…feel like I want to live my life differently than before. You know?" Chishiya had never been such an open person. But he felt like he could talk to her. Maybe it was just because he was still out of it. Something about her was comforting somehow. Familiar. Kuina nodded, scratching the inside of her wrist, she had a scar there too. Wrapped around her wrist. "Yeah, actually. I do…"

He felt inclined to scratch at his own wrist for some reason. Watching her process his words before she continued on. "It's that long dream feeling. ...Why don't you? Live your life differently?"

Chishiya laughed. She said it like it was so simple. He propped his elbows up on the table and shrugged. "I guess you're right. I should just…live differently. What about you? Will you live differently?"

Kuina pressed a hand to her cheek, brows furrowed, letting out a sigh. "I think I'd like to try. I don't think it's that simple, but I want it to be. I think I've already changed. Doesn't that mean I can't live my life the same way as before anyway?"

That caveat piqued his interest. She was a clever woman. "I used to think people didn't change."

"I know I did. So I'm sure you did too, right? Maybe everyone here is different than they were. So we all have to live different lives now."

"You're something of a philosopher Kuina."

They chatted some more before deciding the sun was too bright, agreeing to seek shade together. Kuina grabbed the handles of his wheelchair before pausing with a gasp, "Don't move." Chishiya froze and looked down at his hands on the armrests. A small blue butterfly had landed on the back of his hand, wings flapping slowly. Kuina leaned down, face beside his, breathing softly, watching the butterfly with wide eyes before making a soft sound of surprise. It was enough to make him startle slightly, causing the butterfly to fly away. "What?" He asked, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. She hadn't turned away from his hand. She reached out and brushed a finger across his wrist.

He'd been scratching a scar too earlier and hadn't even noticed.

"We match. Weird coincidence."

Chishiya looked at her hand hovering above his. Similar scar. Same side. What were the odds of that? And what kind of injury would cause a scar to wrap around the wrist like that? Curious.

"Yeah. Hm. I don't usually believe in coincidences."

Kuina leaned back sightly, turning to look at Chishiya instead.

"Well you can come up with a theory then. And run it by me."

"Will do."